The Summer That Never Was
by saturday.conspiracy
Summary: Chrono Furey had been looking forward to a nice, long summer break...instead he has to deal with demonic history teachers, a lethal game of Flashlight Tag, and a treacherous plot to unleash a powerful darkness. AU
1. Why I Hate US History

A/N: _Ok, welcome to my first Chrono Crusade fanfic! There's not much to say except that it's an AU story. I'm not entirely sure of where it's going to go, but I'll try to make it interesting. Also, the title is a working one._

_This story was inspired after finishing __The Lightning Thief__ (Percy Jackson series). I just started typing on it with the idea of "what if the Magdalan Order was a summer camp that trained kids to fight demons?" Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy Chapter One!_

Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Crusade nor do I make any money from writing this story.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter One**

**~Why I Hate US History~**

I had to be the only kid on the planet who was not looking forward to summer vacation. I barely held back another frustrated groan as I watched the fancy New York skyscrapers pass in a blur. In another five minutes or so my doomed fate would be sealed and all hope would be lost. Great.

"It'll be all right dear," my mom said, "I'm sure you'll have lots of fun."

"At _summer school_, Mom?" I retorted, turning to stare like she had just grown a second head.

Either she was trying to cheer me up or she was just teasing me. Knowing her, it was the latter especially since she was already fighting back a smile, her ruby eyes (same as mine) twinkling mischievously.

"Ok, so you probably won't have fun, but look at it this way: if you don't go, you'll just have to repeat US History."

There was no arguing with that so I kept my mouth shut and leaned back in my seat, sort of seeing my reflection in the window. My short, purple hair was tousled from having slept through my alarm clock, hoping that when I woke up I'd be in my room and faced with another summer of working at the antique store down the street. In the meantime, Mr. Carlson would call in everyday to complain that the rent was late. My mom always paid the rent on time, but he complained anyway just to be a pain in the—

"Chrono!" Mom's voice brought me back into reality and I realized that I had been thinking out loud. Oops.

"Sorry," I grumbled, "but can't we just turn around and forget this whole thing? Maybe we could talk to Mr. Remington and figure something else out. _Anything_ else."

I didn't want to whine and I hated hearing other people do it, but I didn't want to go to summer school even more. And desperate times called for desperate measures.

Mom shook her head. "I would love to do that for you, dear, but perhaps this is the will of Fate"—Instinctively, I tuned out the rest of her "will of Fate" speech. Sorry, but I've heard it so many times I've got it memorized.

See, my mom's a fortuneteller (well, part-time anyway). She's even ranked at number seven on New York City's list of Ten Most Recognized Fortunetellers You Absolutely Must Visit. Many of her customers give her a three out of four stars rating along with a quick one-liner review. For example: _This lady iz awesum yo!_ Not only that, but she really believes in whatever powers have been bestowed upon her.

I'll admit that I had always been impressed with how accurate her predictions were to the point that I'd wanted to take over the family business…when I was twelve. I'm fifteen now and I have no idea as to what I want to do with my life; running the little shop that was just below our equally small apartment flat, however, had been crossed off my list way before freshmen orientation.

"—besides, I really think that Mr. Remington is trying to do what's best for you," I heard her finish.

I almost laughed. Mr. Remington wanted to help me by imprisoning me in his classroom for the next two and a half months—that was definitely one I hadn't heard before. Don't get me wrong, out of all my other teachers, he was my favorite and his classes had never put me to sleep. But summer school?

As if on cue, Grand Central High slowly crept up on us from ahead. At first glance, it looked like any respectable public school, standing proud in all its red-brick glory with the American flag flapping gallantly in the wind. But spend a whole year here as a freshmen and pretty soon you'll see the darkened skies crackle with ominous thunder over it, even in June. All it needed was a surrounding barbed fence and a guillotine somewhere in the parking lot and it would make the perfect prison for juveniles who flunked US History.

We pulled up to the entrance.

"I'll be back to pick you up at two," my mom told me.

"All right, I'll see you later," I said, adjusting my backpack onto my shoulder.

I watched her drive off before turning around to head through the glass double doors. I only had to survive for five hours—my day couldn't get much worse than that. Thinking back, I almost want to laugh at how wrong I'd been.

**XxXxXxXxX**

About five minutes later, I was unloading my textbook and pens onto my usual desk in Classroom 115A. I glanced around and saw three other kids who all looked just as happy as I was to be here. Excitement practically radiated off of Clay Moore as he snored away in the far back, completely oblivious to the disgusted looks the other two girls were shooting at him.

Mr. Remington hadn't arrived yet, which was strange because he was practically obsessed with punctuality and was always waiting in the classroom with the door open. Aside from flunking nearly every test, my constant late arrivals had also killed my grade since Mr. Remington liked to take off points for every tardy slip he managed to collect from me. I could see his point, I guess, about showing respect by arriving on time, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

"Hey! Chrono!"

Stepping into the classroom wasn't Mr. Remington, but my friend Azmaria. Having recently transferred here from some prep school in upstate New York, we became lunch buddies not long after her first day. Before that though, I was sure there were days I'd catch her staring at me in some of our classes. She must've been some kind of child genius because she had yet to show any signs of puberty, but was already taking Pre-Calculus. She was also an albino with silvery lavender hair and pinkish eyes that easily welled up with tears whenever the other kids decided to make themselves feel better by picking on her.

Azmaria beamed at me brightly as though she couldn't think of a better way to spend her summer break. I couldn't help but smile back. I then shot a dark look at the two other girls, daring them to say something. They took the hint and settled on silently leering at her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. "You didn't have US History this year, right?"

Either it was my imagination or she seemed to hesitate in her answer, but she quickly recovered with a nervous laugh.

"Oh no. I'm, uh, actually here to ask Mr. Fuller about taking Calculus next year," she stammered. "Y'know, my dad and mom always want me to take the top classes."

I quirked an eyebrow at her. "Um, Az…Mr. Fuller teaches PE."

That seemed to make her even more nervous and she started rambling on about taking too many courses and getting the teaching staff all mixed up. But I knew she was lying. Before I could call her on it though, another voice cut me off.

"You! You're not on my list of students!" We both looked to the front of the classroom and saw a scrawny man in a stiff brown suit glaring at us with his beady eyes. It wasn't Mr. Remington.

"Um, who are you?" I dared to ask.

Maybe it was the dumbfounded look on my face that seemed to irritate him further. His cropped brown hair bristled like the fur of an angry cat.

"I'm your substitute for today," he snapped.

"Where's Mr. Remington?" Azmaria asked sharply.

I wouldn't have been surprised if my eyes had jumped out of their sockets as I turned to stare at her. In the short time I've known her, I never once heard her use that kind of tone on anyone, let alone a teacher. She took no notice as she watched the substitute warily—like she expected him to go psycho on us at any second. Judging by the sudden creepy smirk that tugged at his lips, he probably was.

"Mr. Remington won't be making it today," the man said slowly, "he had some important errands to run. My name is Mr. Bedford and I will be taking his place. Seats, now."

The other two girls and I did as we were told and watched in tense silence as he slowly advanced towards Azmaria. I could see her knees trembling slightly, but she didn't move. I ignored the part of me that wondered if she was scared of him.

"You, young lady," Mr. Bedford said, stopping only a few feet away. "You are not in this class. Leave now or I will call the front office."

Azmaria swallowed, gave me one last look, and then carefully walked past him to go into the hallway. I could only stare at the now-closed door even as Mr. Bedford ordered us to turn to Chapter Seven of our textbooks. I don't know why, but I couldn't shake the expression that had been on her face from my mind. It was like she was afraid of leaving me behind. Afraid that something bad was going to happen.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Maybe Azmaria had been worried that I'd die of boredom. Because that's exactly what was happening to me right now. It was a slow and painful death prolonged only by the deafening ticking of the clock hanging up on the wall right beside me. It took everything I had not to look at it.

Mr. Bedford was monotonous to the point that his voice became white noise to me as I doodled in my notebook. He was the complete opposite of Mr. Remington, which made me wonder why he'd been chosen to be our substitute. Mr. Remington always tried to make sure we had a fun but decent teacher on the days he was out. Just when the torture seemed like it would never end, Mr. Bedford finally said something interesting:

"Ten minute break."

I practically jumped over my desk and dashed into the empty hallway. The muffled voices of the other few teachers here bounced off the walls as they gave their lectures. I turned a corner, fishing around in my jean pocket for enough change that would get me a Snickers and a can of orange soda. The vending and soda machines were crammed together in a small space just in front of the entrance to the weight lifting room. Azmaria was standing front of them, talking in a low voice.

"I'm certain of it…the way his eyes were"—I took a few steps back and pressed myself against the wall. I know, I know, it's impolite to eavesdrop. But from the way she was acting earlier I knew she was hiding something.

Her back was to me and her long hair covered up her face, but I could only assume that she was talking on her cell phone.

"I forgot to bring them. I'm sorry, but since there had been no real disturbances the whole year, I didn't think that—yes, all right. Please hurry, sir. I don't know how much longer its _skin_ will stay on." Then she hung up. I waited for a second and then came out from hiding.

"Hey, Az."

If I hadn't been busy trying to figure out what was worrying her so much, I would've laughed at the look on her face as she jumped back.

"Ch-Chrono!" she squeaked. "Wh-what are you—how long—"

"Have I been here?" I finished for her, knowing that when she was scared, she'd stammer to the point of rambling.

Her face went beet red as her expression continued to fall. What was she getting so worked up over?

I shrugged. "I just got here. Came to get a soda," I said.

She relaxed and gave me a weak smile before turning to the soda machine.

"Me too," she said in a high voice, haphazardly pulling out some loose change.

I watched her quickly shove one coin into the machine after another. She hadn't even noticed that she'd already put in a whole dollar more than what it charged.

I didn't understand anything I'd just heard. All I knew was that it made Azmaria even more jumpy than usual. Whatever it was, she didn't want me to know about it.

"Chrono?" She turned around to face me with a Coke in her hands and her expression suddenly serious. Again she surprised me; I'd never seen her look like this before.

"Uh, yeah?"

She took a deep breath. "Tell me…did you get any…y'know, vibes from Mr. Bedford?"

That definitely caught me off guard and I first thought she was joking, but when her expression didn't change, I wish she had been.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked her.

"Because…it's important," she answered.

If it was possible, I was even more confused than before. What did my vibes have to do with anything? Like I said, when I was twelve I wanted to take over the shop for my mom, so I tried my hand at reading tarot cards, checking my horoscope everyday, and interpreting my dreams. Typical stuff. Somehow from doing all of that, I developed a sort of sixth sense. There were times I would get vibes either from people I met or just after waking up in the morning. They usually let me know whether to steer clear of a person or if I was in for a good or bad day.

"You know it doesn't work like that," I said finally. "It's not something I can do whenever I feel like it. Well, actually…it's _when_ I feel something strongly, that I get them. Make sense?"

"Er…no, not really."

I wasn't surprised. But still, Azmaria was a lot more understanding than the other kids, who assumed most of the time that I specialized in summoning zombies and spent my afternoons staring into crystal balls. Whenever I tried to explain it to someone, he or she would always say: "If you can see into the future, can you give me the answers to tomorrow's test?"

"Look," I began, "break's almost over. I gotta go."

"Wait, Chrono." Azmaria grabbed my arm. "If you can, try to get a vibe from Mr. Bedford and…be careful."

**XxXxXxXxX**

I downed the last of my orange soda and slumped into my chair. The other students were still at their desks and waiting for Mr. Bedford to finish adjusting his shirt cuffs. Before long, he picked up where he left off in his lecture while scribbling on the white board. I stared at his back, trying to concentrate. To be honest, I felt kind of stupid since I had never done this before. Usually my vibes just sort of…happened. Nonetheless, I found myself trying to get some kind of feeling from him.

Nothing.

"Mr. Furey," said Mr. Bedford, "perhaps you can provide me with an answer."

I snapped out of my daze and looked around. No one else was paying attention to me, only staring at the board with fake interest. Then my gaze fell on Mr. Bedford, who was looking right at me. As soon as our eyes met, I felt a sick twist in my stomach. It was like I was hungry, but at the same time knowing I would throw up if I did eat anything. I froze. I had never gotten a vibe this strong or this negative from anyone before. Not even the kids who picked on Azmaria felt this rotten. My breath must've caught in my throat, because I nearly choked on my next words.

"Answer…what…sir?"

Mr. Bedford didn't once take his eyes off of me. "Answer my question, Mr. Furey. How long did you think you could hide from us?"

I didn't know what he was talking about. All I knew was that my brain was telling me to get out of there. I could picture my legs taking me out of the classroom and down the hallway, but in reality, I stayed where I was. I couldn't move or breathe.

Then Mr. Bedford's eyes began to glow like laser pointers. Rows of jagged teeth stretched his evil smile even further as claws shot out of his fingers. Like wind was blowing against him, his suit fanned open and became a pair of slick wings. His skin blackened and a small, drill-like horn shot to the top of his head.

Things only got stranger after that.

Mr. Remington suddenly burst into the classroom, wielding what looked like a flattened lightsaber. He had an intense look in his blue eyes that I'd never seen before and I was glad that it wasn't me on the receiving end of it. In one swift movement, he swung his weapon and slashed at Mr. Bedford's eyes. Mr. Bedford howled in pain as he crashed into the desk, splintering it into hundreds of pieces.

"Chrono, get out of here!" Mr. Remington shouted.

That snapped me out of whatever trance I'd been in just in time to see Mr. Bedford fly right at me, a deadly glint in his bleeding eyes.

I dove to the floor—his claws slicing through the air where my head had been—and underneath the nearest desk. As he stood next to Clay Moore, he madly looked from left to right. I then realized that Clay hadn't moved a muscle since the beginning of class. A strong hand grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet.

"I won't tell you again, Chrono! Go now!" barked Mr. Remington. He readied himself as Mr. Bedford spun towards us.

"What about the others? What's wrong with them?" I cried, my legs feeling like mush.

"It's too late! He's already consumed their souls! Hurry up and go!"

Another hand grabbed me and pulled me back just as Mr. Bedford charged again. In my last glimpse of the classroom, I saw Mr. Remington knock him back into the wall. Before I knew what was happening, I was running down the hallway next to Azmaria. Teachers and students started pouring out of the classrooms with worried expressions.

"What's going on, Az?" I yelled, not caring who heard me.

"I'll explain everything, but we have to get out of here first!" she replied.

A loud, hollow roar echoed from behind. I stole a glance over my shoulder and saw Mr. Bedford closing in on us in a blind fury, frantic screams erupting in his wake. I don't really remember what happened next, but as he reared his claws back for a final strike, Azmaria must've grabbed me again to head down the stairs. My foot slipped and the next thing I knew, colors were exploding in front of me before I finally landed flat on my back at the bottom of the stairs.

My vision swam as though my eyes were playing on a teeter-totter and Azmaria suddenly gained ten new mouths, all of which were calling my name. I wanted to warn her that Mr. Bedford was right behind her, but I couldn't focus on anything other than the sharp pain piercing through my skull. Just when Mr. Bedford was about to slice right through her, Mr. Remington appeared and swung his lightsaber in a downward strike, going through him in one clean cut.

Mr. Bedford disappeared in a single poof. With a dying howl, he exploded into a collection of black wisp that hung in the air like a dangerous threat.

Then everything went black.

* * *

A/N: _And that concludes the first chapter! I hoped you liked it. Don't worry, Rosette and the others will show up soon enough. Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks!_


	2. In Which I Become Thoroughly Confused

A/N: _All right, guys, I'm back with Chapter Two! First off, thank you to everyone who reviewed Chapter One. I literally squealed like a dork every time I saw a new review. I'd thank you all individually, but I think I'll just get on with the chapter. By the way, I bumped Chrono's age up to fifteen based on the birthday I chose for him—April 15. I've already made this change to the first chapter. Hope you enjoy!_

Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Crusade or Remington's ability to slice up history teachers.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Two**

**~In Which I Become Thoroughly Confused~**

I woke to the smell of jasmine incense mixed with microwave burritos. My head was pounding like there was a jackhammer drilling into my brain and when I tried to sit up, a wave of nausea crashed over me. But overall, I felt safe. In fact, I was in my own room.

Bright sunlight shone through the window over my head, so I guessed that it was early in the afternoon. How did I get back home? How long had I been unconscious? What had happened? I stared at the ceiling, trying to remember anything that would answer one of these questions.

Then it all came back.

Sitting in History class…Mr. Bedford substituting for Mr. Remington…Mr. Bedford turning into some kind of monster—I bolted upright. I had to force myself not to throw up as I gingerly climbed out of bed. I slipped into a clean pair of shorts and stumbled over to my door. Greeting me on the other side was my reflection in a round, wooden-framed mirror. Another one of my mom's quirks.

She believed that it was important to see yourself as you really were, especially in the mornings, so that after being confronted with your flaws and attributes, you would learn to accept yourself.

I accepted the fact that I looked terrible. My hair was all over the place, my skin was considerably paler, and my eyes had dark circles under them. There was even a dark, blotchy bruise forming on my forehead. I stepped into the living room.

"Oh dear, thank goodness you're awake."

My mom hurried out of the kitchen and hugged me close. Strands of her long, black hair tickled my cheek and it felt like the incident at school had been nothing more than a bad dream. She was really good at making me feel like nothing could ever go wrong.

"How do you feel?" she asked me next, holding me at arm's length as she gave me a onceover.

"Fine. Tired, mostly," I said.

She smiled. "Really? Even after a nice fourteen-hour nap?"

She pointed to the time blaring on the microwave, which read 3:17. Before the shock could settle in, I noticed two plates of steaming burritos on the dining table. My stomach growled. I didn't have to be told twice when my mom suggested we start eating before they got cold.

"I'll fix you an icepack in a moment for that bruise. It doesn't look too bad," she said, once we were a few bites into our lunches.

I nodded, chewing thoughtfully. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Mom? What happened? I mean, how did I get back here?" I asked.

"Mr. Remington and that little girl brought you back," she answered. "They said you slipped on the stairs when coming back from your break."

I frowned. So Mr. Remington and Azmaria wanted to keep Mr. Bedford a secret. But what about the other people who saw him flying around in the hallways? And then I remembered the other three students who'd been in the classroom with me.

_It's too late! He's already consumed their souls!_

That's what Mr. Remington had said. But how was that possible? All this thinking was starting to make my head hurt.

"Chrono? Is everything all right?"

Concern was written all over my mom's face as she looked at me. I avoided her eyes as I said I was fine. The last thing I wanted was for her to worry about me.

"Do you need any help with the shop?" I asked, ready for a change in topic.

"But you just woke up. You shouldn't push yourself too hard or your body will tire out much quicker."

I rolled my eyes, trying not to grin. "I know, Nurse Furey, but you've to go to the hospital soon anyway. I could clean up or something."

My mom watched me carefully, suspiciously even. I couldn't blame her since I hadn't offered to help out in the shop in a long time. I just didn't want to go back to bed; I wouldn't get any sleep and would only end up thinking about what had happened yesterday. Finally, she gave a defeated sigh.

"All right. Just don't overdo it."

**XxXxXxXxX**

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I jogged downstairs to start cleaning up Lilith's Mystical Readings. As usual, the store was totally cluttered. It looked like I didn't have much cleaning to do. Scattered all over the place were half-opened cardboard boxes of crystal balls, books about magic, costumes made of satin, unopened decks of tarot cards, and fake palms to practice palm reading on.

Off in a corner near the back of the store was a tall shelf crammed with a collection of pickled reptiles and cans of powdered cactus milk. Knowing my mom, she probably just wanted me to unload the boxes that had the more popular items and then throw the rest in the back storage. In spite of her mysticism and overall strange beliefs, she was a true businesswoman.

I had just finished unloading the box of crystal balls when the front door jingled open.

"Um, hello?"

"Azmaria!"

I nearly dropped the last crystal ball as I stumbled over to her. While I was glad that she hadn't been injured at all, the questions I'd been trying to ignore flooded into my mind. She looked both surprised and glad to see me coming towards her.

"Chrono, you're awake! How do you feel?" Her eyes flitted over the bruise on my head before she gave me a sympathetic smile.

"I'm all right. What are you doing here?" I asked, setting the crystal ball on the countertop.

She then took her backpack off her shoulders and looked through it before pulling out a manila folder.

"Um, Mr. Remington asked me to bring you some worksheets from his lesson today and…to tell you that you can have the rest of this week off," she answered slowly.

I took the folder and thanked her. Her body seemed to relax some, like she'd been holding her breath. We stood there in awkward silence before I finally asked,

"Did yesterday…really happen?"

Azmaria's eye twitched. "Wha—but you…I mean, of course!" She laughed nervously. "Remember, you were going back to History after the break and you slipped on your way up the stairs!"

I gave her a weird look. This had to be some kind of joke. Did she not remember anything?

"But what about Mr. Bedford? And Mr. Remington's lightsaber thingy?" I said.

This time, her backpack slipped from her hands as her eyes widened in complete horror. She made it seem like I had just admitted to posting her deepest secret all over MySpace or something.

"Y-you remember?" she squeaked, "You actually remember all of that?"

"Well, yeah. It's kind of hard to forget that a teacher turned into a freakishly huge monster and tried to skewer me alive," I said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It should've been since she had been right there with me.

Now Azmaria looked ready to faint. She staggered on her feet that I had to grab her arm to steady her.

"Az, what's going on?" I asked her.

She took a deep breath and lowered her gaze. "Can we sit down somewhere? I'll…I'll explain everything as best I can."

So I led her past the beaded curtain and into the Reading Room where my mom read her customers' fortunes. She sat down on one of the pouffes and I took the one across from her. The little room was dimly lit by a bunch of white candles sitting on the shelves over both of our heads. Azmaria took another deep breath and gazed at me closely. Without smiling and in the most matter-of-fact tone, she said,

"Chrono, Mr. Bedford was a demon."

I stared at her.

A demon.

I started to laugh to prepare myself for her to shout_ Psyche!_ But she remained as grim-faced as ever. Now I had even more questions and I tried to get them all out, but it ended up coming out like this:

"But—I, you—wha—huh?"

Azmaria began to fidget in her seat. She had obviously never had this kind of conversation before. And I thought the last moment of silence had been awkward.

"So…what exactly did he do to the other kids who were in the classroom with me?" I asked finally.

"He sucked out their souls. He must've done it during the break. Basically, they were just empty. Living, but empty…" She shivered as she spoke, staring at her hands, which were tensely folded in her lap.

I even felt a chill in my own spine. Just thinking about it…if I hadn't left the classroom, I'd be just like them. I didn't know whether to feel relieved or guilty about feeling relieved.

"And…that's what he was trying to do to me. Before Mr. Remington showed up," I stated, surprised at how calmly that came out.

Azmaria nodded.

"But why? Why me?"

"I don't know," she answered.

I felt myself getting angry. I realized then that she had really come here to see if I'd forgotten about yesterday. But since I hadn't, the least she could do was give me a few answers.

"Then what do you know? What are you hiding, Az?" I snapped, a little harsher than I meant.

She winced and looked to be on the verge of tears, which only made me feel worse. Before I could apologize, though, she finally looked at me, most of her tears forced back.

"You should talk to Mr. Remington," she said. "He's been looking out for you the whole year. He can explain everything. Just make sure…you do your assignments on time."

Before I had a chance to be confused, I heard my mom call my name.

"Oh, there you are," she greeted us as we stepped back into the shop. She was wearing her green hospital scrubs with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Er, Mom, this is Azmaria Hendric, my friend from school," I said.

_She just came over to explain that my substitute history teacher was a soul-sucking monster._

"Hello, ma'am," said Azmaria. She then knelt down to pick up her fallen backpack. "I was just bringing Chrono his assignments from class."

"Well, thank you, Azmaria," Mom replied. "Are you leaving already?"

"Yes, I really should be going home. It was nice to meet you. I'll see you later, Chrono."

The last look Azmaria gave me seemed to hold for a long time, but before I knew it, the front door jingled open and closed.

**XxXxXxXxX**

For the next couple of days, I couldn't think of anything other than the bizarre conversation I'd had with Azmaria and of the whole incident on Monday. Even watching nearly every DVD I owned couldn't distract me long enough from Mr. Bedford's vicious face and his last words to me:

_How long did you think you could hide from us?_

The occasional nightmares were just an added bonus. No matter how much I thought of everything, I still couldn't make sense of why all of this had happened and what I had to do with any of it.

On Thursday afternoon, my mom finally kicked me out to go and get some fresh air. I stopped by the antique store to help out Mr. Steiner, who had hip problems and couldn't lift the eighteenth century vases that weighed more than me. I didn't have any more luck than he did with my toothpick arms, but he still treated me to ice cream as part of my paycheck. When I got back home with only an hour to spare before dinner, my mom was talking on the phone.

"No, Lyle, he's fine…You want to talk to him? He just walked in," she said, before handing me the receiver. She mouthed, "Your dad."

I took it from her even though I didn't want to. I could already hear his fax machine whirring in the background before I put the phone to my ear. I had forgotten that Thursdays were his overtime days.

"Chrono! How are you feeling? Your mom told me what happened!" my dad, Lyle Steely, cried.

"I'm all right. My head feels a lot better," I answered, playing with the cord.

I heard his leather office chair squeak as he slumped back in it. I could easily picture him running his hand through his black hair—which, on a really bright day, looked dark purple—as he tried to think of something to say next.

"So…summer school, eh?" He forced a laughed. "I remember how much I hated it."

"You went to summer school too? I'm surprised." And I wasn't being sarcastic.

My dad was the kind of guy who loved rules, straight A's, and perfection. Definitely not someone who would flunk US History. Anything chaotic or not "part of his plan," he wanted nothing to do with. Take my mom's unplanned pregnancy for instance. I was actually surprised that he had called this fast; normally, he would've called to check on me by _next_ Thursday.

"Well, I went to a year-round school when I was your age," he explained. "Of course, I put too much on my plate when I signed up for those extra classes that cut into those weeks I had off during the summertime."

I wasn't surprised anymore. Next, I bet he'll say that those extra classes prevented him from being the perfect Boy Scout.

"Now, I kinda wish I'd used that time to earn my last two Boy Scout badges. Ah well, we all have to make sacrifices sometimes."

Bingo. I knew it.

"Sorry to hear about that, Dad. Again, though, I'm fine. Maybe I should let you get back to work now," I said. "Mom and I are about to start eating."

Ok, that was a lie. My mom's amazing shrimp and sausage stew wasn't even halfway finished yet. But the last thing I wanted to do was stand here for another half-hour while my dad went on about how making sacrifices allowed him to get to where he was today (a secretary for some railroad insurance company in Rhode Island).

"Oh yeah, sure. I'll keep in touch. Bye, C-man."

"Bye, Dad."

Finally, I hung up. I think my dad was feeling ten times more relieved than I was. That was how most of our conversations ended.

"You shouldn't be so hard on him, sweetheart. You know how he is," my mom called from the kitchen.

I wasn't being hard on anybody. My dad and I just had nothing in common. He was perfect and I wasn't. He could graduate from high school as valedictorian and I would be lucky to make above a C average. Besides, it was hard to be all chummy and whatnot with a guy who'd ditched his own family.

"Chrono, don't say things like that," Mom said softly.

Crap, I was thinking out loud again. I knew she didn't like it whenever I said anything bad about my dad, especially when she always tried to tell me about the good things she remembered from when they were together. I was about to apologize, but she didn't look upset. Instead, she took a seat at the dining table before gesturing for me to join her.

"Let's read your cards," she announced, shuffling through her deck of tarot cards.

"But we haven't done that since I started middle school," I said, completely confused.

"Yes, I know, but something's bothering you—I can see it on your face. I don't mean your dad either, but you've been acting so distant these past few days."

She put the deck in the center of the table and nodded for me to put my hand on it. In a rush, all my worries and confusion about Azmaria and Mr. Remington came back to me.

"Now ask your question," she told me.

But I didn't have one. Then I thought of everything Azmaria had told me, so I said, "All right, I've got it."

Like my mom had instructed me when she first started teaching me about the cards, I let the question float around in my mind, pushing away all other thoughts.

_Should I talk to Mr. Remington?_

My mom flipped one card onto the table after another, studying each one intently like she was mentally rehearsing for a speech. The only times I'd only ever seen her so serious were when she read her customers' fortunes and when she had been preparing to have The Talk with me. I held my breath until she finally completed the ritual.

She closed her eyes. "It seems that…you will be facing your destiny very soon, Chrono," she began.

"What do you mean?" I asked, leaning in to see the cards she had pulled out.

She pointed to the card on the far right, which had a picture of a woman holding a silver wand.

"An upright Queen of Wands means that you will meet someone…but they will need your help," she explained. Then she pointed to the card beside it that had eight golden wands making a circle. "And an upright Eight of Wands can represent a goal or destiny. It's all very strange."

I suddenly felt cheated. Even though I didn't always believe in the will of Fate or whatever, I had asked my question with total sincerity. In those short seconds, I had actually hoped that those little strips of cardboard would be able to give me some decent advice.

"So what should I do?" I asked her. Though I wasn't sure how she could help me either.

She frowned thoughtfully, pushing her hair away from her face. "The best advice I can give you is to follow your heart. If you think you should help this person, then do it," she said.

Then she packed her cards away.

I sat there, trying to digest her words. It was all becoming too much. Sure, the thoughts of Mr. Bedford and those soulless students were slowly fading from my mind, but I could only handle so much weirdness at once.

**XxXxXxXxX**

After dinner and saying goodbye to my mom, who had to go to work, I did the dishes, settled on my bed, and opened the manila folder to start my homework. Ugh.

Inside, were a few fill-in-the-blank worksheets about the early US presidents and an old, yellowed piece of parchment that had weird symbols written all over it. Confused, I picked it up and smoothed out the stiff wrinkles.

The symbols, none of which resembled anything close to the twenty-six letters I was used to, looked like they had been scratched on by an old goose-feathered quill. Like the kind they used back in the nineteenth century.

I'd never been very good at the puzzles or Sudoku that came in the newspaper, but for some reason, these symbols in front of me just…made sense. In my mind, I could picture them floating off the parchment and rearranging themselves into plain English. I must've blinked or spaced out for a quick second because when I looked at the parchment again, the words scrawled across it were no longer shaped like squiggly symbols, but Roman letters that I could actually understand.

Frowning, I rubbed my eyes. Then I pinched myself. Then I brought my hand to my forehead. Everything was normal…with me at least. The words remained unchanged, so I took a deep breath and started to read.

_In the Days of Old, before the Children, the Mother walked on the ground. She always looked at the sky with a longing sadness. She wanted to fly. One day, she met with the last dragon that had been known amongst his long-dead brethren as Night Draco._

_Night Draco knew the day would come when the Disdainful Ones would band together and hunt him like they had hunted his brethren, who are now long-dead. He knew he could not escape them because the only safe haven for his kind was in the stars, which lay beyond the gates of the Astral Line. These gates could only be reached in the afterlife. All Night Draco could do was wait for death._

_The Mother sat with him during one of his long days of waiting and said:_

_Why do you wait for death? Why not fight against it?_

_Night Draco replied: Death cannot be fought, only accepted. My wings are tired, so all I can do is wait._

_Yet this was not true. Night Draco's wings were old, yes, but not tired. It was his magic that kept them prime and strong._

_The Mother said: Your wings are strong and beautiful. Why not use them to fly to the Astral Line where you can demand entry into the stars? You cannot be denied as you are the oldest and the wisest of all dragons._

_But Night Draco only shook his head._

_A dragon cannot demand entry into the stars no more than a babe can demand entry into life, he said. I will wait for the Disdainful Ones to take me. I have no use for these wings any longer._

_And then the Mother looked at the sky and her longing sadness grew. She desperately wanted to be up there._

_The Mother said: If you have no more use for your wings, may I take them? I wish to fly—not to wait for the Disdainful Ones._

_Night Draco considered her offer for a moment and then nodded._

_He said: You may have my wings and all the magic that sustains them. However, if you fly, your children will fly too._

_The Mother nodded and stood up. She took each of Night Draco's wings into her hands and tore them from his back. Instantly, the wings became her own and she took to the sky._

_This is why we, the Children, have wings. This is why there are no more dragons…_

My mind was reeling to the point it felt like the room was spinning. Was this supposed to be some kind of fairytale story? It was certainly nothing like the fairytales I'd grown up with. A lot creepier, to say the least. Was this what Azmaria had meant when she said to do my homework on time? Again, all this thinking was making my head hurt.

I examined the parchment, turning it over in my hands, but nothing else happened. I then folded it over and gingerly placed it on my nightstand, wishing that I could just forget all about it.

**XxXxXxXxX**

I was out of bed before my alarm clock had the chance to go off. Even though I could barely keep my eyes open, I was impatient for the day to start. It felt like time was purposely making my normal wake-up routine take twice as long, and I had to force my body to move quicker so I could get out of here.

I had to get to school.

I had to get some answers from Mr. Remington.

My worksheets were still blank and the parchment was where I had left it last night. I shoved them all in my backpack and went into the living room where my mom was sleeping on the sofa. She must've gotten in late. I gently shook her awake.

"Mmm…Chrono?" she groaned, stretching out her arms.

"Mom, I'm going to school. I was thinking of taking the bus," I said.

She sat up halfway, her eyes bleary. "Are you sure you're feeling up to it? I can drive you if you want."

She reached out and gently pushed my bangs away from my forehead. The bruise there had practically disappeared.

"It's no big deal. You're obviously tired," I replied.

With that, I grabbed her blanket from her room and gave it to her. She smiled and then fell back asleep almost instantly.

I locked the front door behind me and ran to catch the early bus. Besides, I told myself, I needed this time to think. If my mom had seen me brooding in the car, it would've brought up a number of uncomfortable questions that I wouldn't have been able to answer.

At some point during the bus ride, I reluctantly pulled out the parchment to see if it had changed at all. The words had turned back into symbols. Even though I couldn't understand them, the story from last night was still clear in my mind. A few minutes later, I hopped off the bus and headed towards Grand Central High.

The hallways were quiet. Occasionally, I heard echoing footsteps, but they only made me jumpy. Every time I got to a corner, I'd wait and then go around it. I couldn't help it—it was like every passing second became another opportunity for a demon to jump out at me. My legs shook as I climbed the same stairs I had slipped on. The same stairs I'd nearly been killed on. I wanted to collapse with relief when I finally made it to the top, but instead I went to knock on the door to 115A.

"Come in, Chrono," came the greeting just when I raised my hand to knock.

Caught off guard, I hesitated for a moment before pushing the heavy door open. Mr. Remington sat comfortably behind his desk, dressed in a pair of black slacks and a white button-up shirt. His blonde hair was neatly combed like always. He was pretty young, at about thirty or so, but his eyes had some kind of hidden wisdom lurking underneath. Needless to say, a lot of girls had crushes on him.

I looked around the classroom. It was spotless; there was nothing that indicated a demon had been here only a few days ago.

Mr. Remington smiled at me with an insane amount of calmness. "I know you have a lot of questions for me right now," he began.

He offered me a seat at one of the desks with a gesture of his hand. The same way he always did whenever I showed up late for class.

"Um, yeah." I slowly lowered myself into the desk right in front of him.

Ok, I definitely wasn't expecting this. He was acting like this was just another normal day of school, but instead of starting it off by asking if I had done the homework assignment, he said,

"Please hand me the parchment Azmaria gave you."

Silently, I took it out of my backpack and walked over to him. He opened it, scanned over the words, and then leaned back in his chair. As he took a deep breath, I resisted the urge to scream. I wanted—scratch that—I _needed_ some answers already!

"Were you able to decipher it at all?" he said finally.

"Um, yeah…it was some kind of story," I answered slowly.

I almost jumped back when he suddenly shot up in his chair. His eyes were wide and staring at me as though I had just dropped an F-bomb.

"You mean you could actually read this, Chrono?" he cried, "What did it say?"

For a moment, I thought I had done something wrong, but at his insistence I summarized the story for him anyway. By the time I was done, he was already staring at the parchment again like he was hoping it would show him what it had shown me. After a moment, a lazy smile spread across his face, his usual calmness returning.

"I must say that I'm impressed, Chrono," he said, "the other instructors at Magdalan and I have been trying to understand this text for over a year now."

If he had expected me to be completely shocked by this news or feel proud of myself for knowing something he didn't, he might've been surprised to know that I didn't care. Was it so hard to just come out and explain to me why I was attacked by a demon and why he slipped a stupid piece of fossilized paper in with my homework? Was it so hard to tell me _what_ exactly he and Azmaria wanted from me?

Mr. Remington must've noticed whatever expression was on my face because he finally started talking again.

"Shall I explain to you what Magdalan Summer Progress is?" he inquired mildly.

"Actually, sir, you could explain everything to me. I just want to know what's going on." I snapped through gritted teeth.

He took no notice of my rudeness, but straightened himself again. "Very well then, Chrono. Let's start at the beginning…Azmaria and I came here to watch over you."

"Watch over me?"

I thought back to all the times I had yelled at the other kids and nearly gotten into fights with them whenever I caught them cornering Azmaria in the hallways. Now I was being told that she had been looking out for my safety the whole time.

Mr. Remington nodded. "I arrived first in order to scout out for anyone who might have certain special abilities. Out of everyone here, you showed signs of those abilities. Once I was certain, I had Azmaria transfer here to keep a closer eye on you in your other classes."

I moved to sit back at the desk, knowing that I would've fallen flat on my butt if I stayed standing any longer. Mr. Remington seemed to be waiting for me to recover, but soon he continued.

"Yes, Chrono, those vibes you get aren't just a result of reading tarot cards," he said.

"Then what are they? And how did you know—"

"I felt them on the first day of school. Do you remember? You must've sensed that I was trustworthy because as soon as I felt your spiritual energy poking and prodding at mine, it immediately withdrew."

I thought back to the beginning of the school year. Like everyone else, I didn't know what to expect from the new teacher. But as soon as he walked into the room, I wasn't worried anymore. I already liked him by the end of the class.

"Ok, fine, I…I've got some kind of superpower. Is that why Mr. Bedford—I mean, the demon or whatever attacked me?" I blurted next.

"Yes. In the gist of things, most demons are hungry for what is called spiritual energy, which will increase their own powers if they get enough of it. The demon that was Mr. Bedford must've sensed you and only waited for the right moment to attack," answered Mr. Remington, folding his hands on his desk.

"So then, is that what he meant by 'Did you really think you could hide from us?'?"

For the second time within the hour, Mr. Remington's calm appearance faltered and was replaced with one of alarmed strictness. Almost as quickly as it had appeared, he sighed and tried to relax his jaw.

"I'm not entirely sure what he meant by that," he admitted, his voice betraying no emotion.

That statement hung in the air for a while as I let him calm himself down. Then I asked,

"So, what is this Magdalan Summer thing you were talking about?"

He seemed glad for the change in subject, eagerly going into an explanation.

"It's like a summer camp, but for kids like you," he said.

"What? You mean US History flunkies?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, nothing like that. It's a place where you can safely train to defend yourselves from demons should you be attacked in the…real world, so to speak," he continued.

"You mean they keep attacking?"

My heart sank into my stomach at that possibility. Would demons even be able to get to me at home? If that was the case, my mom would be in danger. I shut my eyes to block out the images of her in the clutches of a demon ten times uglier than Mr. Bedford.

"They do if your spiritual energy's strong enough to get their attention."

Which, in my apparent case, meant yes.

"Don't worry, Chrono. A whole year went by and nothing happened, so I can only assume that you're spiritual energy isn't quite as strong—"

"But it's still strong enough to attract more demons who could hurt me…or my mom."

I fixed my gaze on him, almost daring him to try to deny it like most adults do when they don't want to scare you. He only nodded slowly, attempting a comforting smile.

"At this Magdalan place," I began, "do all the other kids have spiritual energy too?"

Mr. Remington shrugged in a half-yes half-no kind of way. "Not all of them. There are different…factors that bring a person to our attention," he said. "However, you're one of few who've actually needed an instructor to come and find them."

I didn't know if that was supposed to cheer me up by making me realize how "special" I was. Not only was he was telling me that I attracted demons like some special brand of catnip, but now I was suddenly perfect for a summer camp that taught kids how to fight off these monsters? I certainly didn't feel special, only slightly disoriented. The kind of feeling you get after spacing out for a long time and realizing how much time has already passed.

"So, Chrono, on that note," said Mr. Remington, "I would like to extend the invitation to you to come to Magdalan Summer Progress."

* * *

A/N: _Finished! This chapter was kind of tricky to get out, but I'm pleased with it more or less. If there's anything off about it, please let me know. I appreciate constructive criticism as much as I do compliments. Thank you for reading this. And another thanks to those who reviewed._


	3. Magdalan Summer Progress

A/N: _Hey, guys! I take back what I said about Chapter Two—_this_ chapter was a pain to write. I'm still not all that sure about it, but I guess it's not too bad. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed the story so far. You guys rock and I really hope to keep things interesting for you. Hope you like it!_

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Three**

**~Magdalan Summer Progress~**

After our nice little chat, Mr. Remington offered to drive me home. Even though I wanted to get away from him and all this talk about demons and spiritual energy, I found myself strapping into his black Chevrolet Aveo. For the most part, the trip was silent and uneasy. He wanted to say something, but stayed quiet. I wanted to say a million things, so I started with the first of them.

"How exactly would I explain to my mom that I want to go off and fight demons?" I asked him.

"Because of the Geas, you shouldn't have to," he answered, smiling to himself.

I wanted to ask him what he was talking about, but he stopped me by holding up his hand.

"I'm sure this is a lot to take in, Chrono. Why don't you take some time to think about it?" he said. "All I can say is that Magdalan would be the safest place for you."

The safest place for me…

His serious tone made me want to believe him—made me want to believe that I wasn't going crazy. The car went silent again. I stared out the window, lost in my thoughts.

I had something called spiritual energy inside of me. Check.

Demons wanted to kill me because of this. Check.

If I wanted the chance to make it to my senior year, I needed to go to a special kind of summer camp. Again, check.

I tried to wrap my mind around this, but it still made no sense whatsoever. So I fell back to the age-old question: _Why me?_

"Chrono…tell me what you see."

I turned to Mr. Remington, but he wasn't looking at me, only straight ahead. His eyes were alert and his hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

"What is it?" I asked, looking forward to see what he was staring at.

But there was nothing. The roads were empty.

I did a double-take. Empty? New York City streets were _never_ empty. I was about ask him what was wrong, but the last thing I saw was his knuckles turn white before he suddenly jerked the wheel to the left.

The world spun around me in one, messy blur and I could only hear my heart hammering through my shirt. My whole body tingled from the various colors meshing together, but when they finally separated into our metropolitan surroundings, I realized I was holding onto the sides of my seat for dear life.

"What the hell, Remington!" I shouted.

In that brief moment, I wasn't looking at my history teacher anymore, but at an insane blonde man who'd just sent his car spinning on two wheels before speeding off in the opposite direction of my house.

"Chrono, what did you see?" he snapped at me. But I knew it wasn't because of what I'd just said. If it was, I didn't care.

"I didn't see anything!" I yelled. "I want to go home!"

Mr. Remington ignored me and only kept glancing through his rearview mirror every five seconds. He added more and more pressure to the accelerator pedal. When it didn't seem like he would answer me anytime soon, I turned in my seat to see what we were trying to get away from.

Nothing. There was nothing except an empty stretch of road that grew longer and longer.

"Take a good look, Chrono! Ignore the Geas!" Mr. Remington cried.

"What Geas? There's nothing there!" I retorted.

"Don't be fooled!" And he didn't say anything else, leaving me to figure out his words for myself.

Feeling like an idiot—a scared and trembling idiot—I continued to stare through the back window, trying to see through this Geas thing.

Seconds later, the sight of the empty streets seemed to melt away like running water only to be replaced by one of a huge, ugly demon flying after us. It didn't look that much different from Mr. Bedford, except that a long line of drill-like spikes ran down its back and it only had one scaly leg. Other than that, though, it still had long, nasty claws and the desire to kill me.

Instinctively, I whipped around and shrunk back against my seat. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shake the image of its face from my mind. My breathing came in short, shallow puffs, none of which did anything to calm me down. There was no way this was happening to me again. It was like a never ending nightmare.

"Chrono, don't panic. I need you focused, especially when we get out of the city," I vaguely heard Mr. Remington say. I even felt his hand rest on my shoulder, if only for a brief moment.

"Wh-what do you mean 'when we get out of the city?'" I stammered, slowly cracking my eyes open.

Of course, at that moment, my question seemed pointless. We had already left the city behind and were surrounded by grass, trees, and clear blue sky. We were the only car on the long strip of road.

There was a loud crack above our heads. I looked up and saw the roof of the car starting to cave in on us with a split wide enough that I could see a bright yellow eye glaring down at me.

Mr. Remington reached past me and into the glove compartment. Sitting inside was a flat, metal cross that he tightly grasped. Then, without warning, he swerved the car again in an attempt to throw the demon off, but this time, brought the car to a jerky halt. I winced as my shoulder banged against the door.

"Get out of the car!" he ordered me.

I could only stare at him. There was no way this was happening.

"Chrono—" Whatever he was going to say next was drowned out by a screeching roar.

It snapped me out of my daze just in time to see the demon zoom towards us. It slammed headfirst into Mr. Remington's door, shattering the window and spraying glass all over us. We used our arms to shield our heads and then, with a rush of panic shooting through me, I turned and fumbled with my door. After giving it a harsh kick open, I stumbled out of the car and into the fresh country air. Mr. Remington was about to follow me, but the demon had jumped back on top of the car, trying to peel off the roof.

"Chrono! Here!" he grunted before flinging the metal cross at me.

It clattered at my feet and I quickly scooped it up before taking a few steps back. The cross felt heavy in my trembling hands. I clenched it tighter even though I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it.

The demon had already managed to pry up a corner, but stopped and looked around, sniffing the air. Great, the stupid thing could smell me. And sure enough, its menacing gaze landed on me. It even licked its lips.

"Activate the sword, Chrono! You can do it!" Mr. Remington called.

"How?" I yelled, taking another step back.

"Give it a good, sharp jerk!"

I dove to the ground and out of the way just as the demon flew at me. Jumping to my feet, I held out the cross and did what he said. With a definite flick of my arm, a long, glowing blade shot out. It was the same lightsaber Mr. Remington had used against Mr. Bedford.

The demon charged again.

Time seemed to slow down as it came closer and closer. Each flap of its wings made a deep whooshing sound that filled my ears, drowning out my frantic heartbeats. All of my senses seemed to wake up. The dry, earthy smell of grass wafted through me and the sky seemed much brighter as if it was cheering me on. Even the air seemed to taste sweeter. For a brief second, I felt totally calm. My shoulders relaxed a little and the blade became much easier to hold. Without even thinking, I swung the blade and heard a loud _schlock!_

Black, sticky goo splattered my shirt and face as the demon's body fell to its knees. Its head soared through the air. Yuck.

The head disintegrated before it hit the grass, and then the rest of its body disappeared. And like someone had just pressed an invisible Off button on my back, whatever adrenaline I had been going on left me instantly and my legs became too shaky to support me anymore. I dropped to my knees, staring at the open terrain, but not really seeing it. The sword slipped from my hands and the blade disappeared. I had beaten the demon.

I, a puny high school freshman, had taken on a full-fledged monster and had come out virtually unharmed.

I felt like throwing up.

I heard Mr. Remington walk up beside me, but I didn't look at him. His hand fell on my shoulder as he said softly,

"Let's go, Chrono. If demons are becoming more aware of your spiritual energy, it's best that I get you to Magdalan soon."

**XxXxXxXxX**

I actually slept easy for the rest of the drive. I didn't dream or, more importantly, have any nightmares, which I was perfectly ok with. When I finally did wake up, my throat was dry and my tongue felt chalky against the roof of my mouth. Slowly, I cracked my eyes open and saw Mr. Remington standing over me. He wasn't wearing his button-up shirt and slacks anymore, but a T-shirt and a pair of khakis. It was almost weird to see him in normal clothes.

Behind him was a high, white ceiling with a line of rotating fans going from one end to the other. The faint smell of antiseptic reached my nose and I soon realized that there was a thin blanket pulled over me. I was still wearing my goo-covered shirt, but my face had been cleaned off and no longer felt sticky.

"Glad to see you're awake, Chrono," Mr. Remington greeted me. "You've been unconscious for about twenty minutes since we arrived."

"Where?" I asked, my voice cracking some.

"You're in the infirmary at Magdalan." Just those simple words made my stomach wriggle with uncertainty.

Trying to ignore the feeling, I sat up in my bed and peered at the sight around me. I was in a large, empty room with tiled floors and rows of hospital bed. Behind me was a wide window where I could see most of the campus.

The infirmary was part of a huge, white brick building that I first thought was a tower, but actually looked more like a chapel. The whole place was basically a collection of buildings spread apart by maze-like walkways and neatly-trimmed grass. All over the courtyards, I saw kids and young adults of all ages hanging around and chatting happily with their friends. They all _looked_ like normal people. The only difference was that they seemed a lot more comfortable with their surroundings than I was. Some of them even pointed to the beat up Aveo parked right out front. Far across from me, I could see open iron gates.

"Can't demons get in if you leave the gates open?" I asked Mr. Remington. He was sitting in a chair next to me and trying not to smile.

"No demon can get in here as long as the Geas protects our boundaries," he answered.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to gather my slow-moving thoughts. "You keep talking about this Geas thing. What is it?"

"It can be several things. Firstly, it's supposed to be a sort of shroud that keeps normal people from knowing about demons and other supernatural creatures. That's why, by now, no one at school remembers anything about Mr. Bedford," he explained, giving me a knowing look. "If you think about it, it's very easy to become trapped in the Geas because we hear only what we want to hear and see only what we want to see. Understand?"

"I think so," I answered, my half-awake brain slowly processing all of this.

"And secondly," he continued, "there's the Geas that would obliterate any demon that tried to invade."

I brought my knees up to my chest and put my head down. A part of me wanted to go back to sleep, but another part of me wanted to find out what would happen next. Would I be allowed to go home soon? How long did I have to stay here?

"Ah, you're finally awake," said a new voice.

I looked up and saw a woman in white hospital scrubs and a nurse's cap approaching me. She was really pretty with long, reddish-brown hair and calm green eyes. She placed a cool hand on my forehead to check my temperature before placing the end of her stethoscope against my chest, and then my back.

"Deep breaths, please," she instructed next. "Is this our new camper?" Her tone sounded like she'd been expecting me for a long time.

Mr. Remington nodded with a smile of his own.

"I'd like to think so, yes," he replied, before turning to me. "Chrono, this is Nurse Alice Feather, Magdalan's head nurse and medical training instructor."

"Er, hi," I greeted her as she gently pressed two fingers on either side of my neck. I felt my cheeks burn when she moved to shake my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Chrono. You should consider yourself lucky, young man. Not many kids manage to fight a demon without getting some kind of injury," she replied.

Despite the compliment, I didn't really feel like I had accomplished anything, so I only managed a simple "oh."

"Is everything normal, Nurse Feather?" Mr. Remington asked.

She nodded. "Pretty much. The only things I would recommend are a clean shirt and that he eats dinner tonight. Are you both going to see Sister Kate now?"

"That would probably be best," he answered. He then stood up and gestured for me to follow him.

He led me into a long, wooden hallway lined with doors and more campers who turned to stare at me like I was some sideshow attraction. The back of my neck tingled as they tried to decide whether or not I was worth the attention they were giving me. I could've sworn I'd even heard one kid say,

"You really think that's _him_?"

I felt my cheeks burn even though I kept my head held high, trying to act like I didn't care—like it was normal for me to be covered in sticky demon goo.

Mr. Remington and I went up a couple flights of stairs before we finally came to a grand-looking office all the way on the top floor of the building. I stepped inside the room only to find an expectant-looking woman staring right at me through her thin-framed glasses. She looked nothing like I had expected as soon as I heard that she was a sister. She wasn't wearing the typical black habit, but a sleeveless blouse; also, she wasn't old. She actually looked to be close to Mr. Remington's age.

"You must be Chrono," she said, coming over to me. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm sorry about your journey here, it should've gone much more smoothly. How are you feeling?"

I noticed that she quickly glanced over my shirt and disheveled hair.

"Um, fine, I guess," I replied, not all that sure of how I really felt after nearly getting killed twice in the same week.

"I am Sister Kate Valentine, the camp director. And I'm sure you already know Mr. Remington. He's the activities director. We're both glad to have you." She then gestured for me to join her at the small sitting area off to the side of the room.

"Thanks…"

I sat down in one of the armchairs, trying not to feel uneasy about all of this. My whole life had been turned inside out in less than a week and I had yet to figure out where I fit into all of this confusion that was supposed to be my summer break. Nonetheless, I found myself taking the silver room key Mr. Remington was offering me along with a camp T-shirt.

Sister Kate seemed to hesitate before speaking up again, tucking a strand of her short, black hair behind her ear. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions for us right now," she began, obviously choosing her words carefully.

As soon as I heard those words, I felt my stomach clench and I nodded.

"When can I go home? Won't my mom be worried about me? What am I supposed to do now that I'm here?" I knew I was rambling, but I figured it was my nerves. Now that I was here, it was all becoming overwhelming.

"Your mother won't be worried, Chrono—"

"How do you know? Has anyone bothered to call her?" I didn't mean for that to come out rudely, but I knew there was no way my mom wouldn't be worried about me.

Sister Kate, unfazed by my interruption, continued. "I'm sure that Mr. Remington has explained the Geas to you. By now, I expect your mother will assume that you are _still_ at summer camp. Simply put, her memory will adjust itself into believing that you've been at camp since the summer break started," she explained.

"So, does that mean I have to stay here?" I asked.

"Not necessarily. However, it would be best if you did." Then her expression softened some. "Don't worry, Chrono, I'm sure you'll get along fine with the other campers and get used to the routine soon enough. And then you can return home at the end of the summer."

I actually perked up at that. To be honest, it didn't sound like a bad deal. Besides, if I stayed, I wouldn't have to worry about my mom being attacked by any demons.

Leaving me to my thoughts, Sister Kate turned to Mr. Remington.

"Do you think you could teach sword-fighting today after free choice, Remington? A lot of the kids have been waiting for you to return," she said.

Mr. Remington smiled. "I think so, on the condition that Chrono accompanies me," he said.

I gave him a startled look. "Me?"

"From the way you handled yourself against that demon earlier, I would like the chance to assess your skills more closely."

My skills? I wanted to laugh. The closest thing I had to skills in sword-fighting was when I was seven and dressed up as a Jedi for Halloween, and accidentally hit a stray cat with my glow-in-the-dark lightsaber.

Finally, I said: "Um, sure, why not?"

**XxXxXxXxX**

Once I changed into my camp T-shirt—which was pale blue and had the letters 'MSP' printed underneath a large, fancy cross that also decorated the sleeves—I headed back outside, intent on exploring the campus.

I saw a few campers already setting up for tonight's bonfire, which is where Mr. Remington said I would get to meet the rest of camp. There was the obstacle course, which was a huge indoor maze filled with dummy demons that campers could fight against. There was the metal workshop where you could make your own weapons. And then there was the chapel where a bunch of campers who could either sing or play an instrument hung out and made up their own songs to perform at the bonfire.

I eventually found the boys' dormitory. It was a long, rectangular building with rows of arched windows on the sides and a large, blue banner hanging over the door that read 'BOYS RULE' in black letters. The banner also had the signatures of every resident written all over it.

"You can sign your name on it later," said a voice from behind.

Startled, I spun around only to be met by a tall boy who had to be a couple of years older than me. He was lean with dusty brown hair and a playful grin directed at me.

"You must be the new kid," he said.

"Yeah, so?" I retorted defensively. At the same time, I couldn't help but wonder if it was _that_ obvious that I didn't belong here.

The guy held up his hands in mock surrender. "Nothing. I just thought you might want a little help getting around. I'm Michael Grove, by the way. Or just Mike. I'm one of the counselors here and it's my job to look out for new campers," he said.

"I can take care of myself."

To my surprise, he just laughed. "I don't doubt it, especially if you can knock off a demon's head in one swing."

"You know about that?" I blurted.

"Trust me, man, _everybody_ knows about it. Don't ask me how though."

Mike's laugh was contagious and I found myself grinning too despite my embarrassment. It definitely explained why people were whispering and pointing at me wherever I went.

"Come on, I can show you to your room," Mike offered.

I followed into the building and down the hallway. We passed by a lounging area where boys and girls were hanging around. Thankfully, no one paid me much attention now that I wasn't wandering around on my own. I was just another camper like the rest of them.

After climbing up a flight of stairs, we came to a door that had _165_ painted on it in gold. The door swung open, revealing a skinny, sandy blonde-haired boy close to my age and wearing a white 'Welcome to Planet Me' shirt.

"Hey, Mike, what's up?" he said, leaning against the doorframe. Then his eyes landed on me and he smiled brightly.

"Hey, Joshua. This is your new neighbor…"

"Chrono," I said, "Chrono Furey."

Joshua's smile grew wider, making his blue eyes sparkle.

"Furey as in Lilith Furey, one of New York City's top fortunetellers?" he exclaimed. He leaned in closer to me with each word that I had to take a step back.

"Uh, yeah. She's my mom," I said.

Joshua looked like someone had just offered him a million dollars and was practically bouncing up and down. "That's awesome! Can you read tarot cards too? I've got a deck, d'you think you could teach me?"

Thankfully, Mike cut into our conversation. "Calm down, Joshua. Let the guy actually get settled before you start harassing him."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Your room's pretty much set up for you," Joshua told me, rubbing the back of his head.

So I went to the next door over—_166_—and pulled my key out of my pocket. With a click of the lock, I pushed the door open.

There was an unmade bed off to the side of the room that had two wooden drawers underneath with brass knob handles. Sitting on the mattress were blue and white checkered sheets and blankets neatly folded on top, and a plastic bag filled with toiletries. Across from me was a wooden desk in front of a wide, rectangular window where you could see a neighboring forest sitting behind Magdalan's stonewall, which encompassed the whole campus.

"Have you guys been expecting me or something?" I asked, turning to Mike and Joshua.

Mike shrugged. "Sort of, yeah."

"What do you mean by 'sort of'?"

He and Joshua exchanged quick looks before he turned back to me.

"Well, we all knew that Mr. Remington had gone off to scout for a new camper, something that doesn't really happen that often. Of course, we weren't expecting _you _yourself. Get it?" he said.

"Um, I guess so, but what about the other new campers?"

"There aren't any," Joshua said. "You're the only new camper this year."

Before I could ask how that had happened, a booming church bell rang from outside.

"All right, Magdalan campers!" Mike called, cupping his hands around his mouth. "It's time to go to your next activity! Lock up your rooms and don't be late!"

**XxXxXxXxX**

Joshua decided to come with me to sword fighting, claiming that he wanted to get it out of the way since the main requirement at Magdalan was that you had go to every activity at least once. We weren't even outside yet when he started going on about wanting to learn how to read tarot cards and that he wished he could start his own club, but was having trouble getting other people interested.

"I mean, the only thing I'm really good at is demonology, but I doubt anyone would want to join a club like that because Mr. Matthews would probably show up and take over. And then it'd be no different from sitting in his classroom." Either it was my imagination or he actually shivered as he finished that last part.

I would've kept on listening but as soon as we got to the sword-fighting court, which was simply a large rectangle of sand, I spotted Mr. Remington and a muscular African American guy engaged in an intense sword fight. Every time the two swords clashed with each other, a sort of musical clinking sound would fill the air and the class would cheer even louder.

"We're allowed to have swords?" I asked Joshua.

Mr. Remington and his opponent seemed to be pretty evenly matched where one guy would either manage to dodge or block his opponent's swing at the last second and was forced to retaliate even faster. It was like an uncoordinated dance routine and I couldn't take my eyes away. This was way better than watching those choreographed fights in movies.

"Well, those are the practice swords," Joshua answered with equal interest. I was glad that he'd finally stopped rambling on about tarot cards. It reminded me of how much I already missed home.

"Practice? They look pretty real to me."

"They are, but they're blunted to the point that you couldn't even cut paper with them."

That was when the sword fight came to an end with Mr. Remington shaking the other guy's hand.

"Very good, Darryl, I think that'll do for our demonstration," he panted, using his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Then he turned to the rest of the class. "As for the rest of you—"

"You're late, Joshua! Don't you know how rude that is?" I heard a voice hiss.

"Mind your own business, Rosette!" Joshua snapped back.

He was glaring at a girl who also had blonde hair—it looked more golden in the sunlight—pulled up in a simple ponytail. Her eyes, though, were the same as his, but had a fiery edge to them. They eventually settled on me with blank curiosity.

"New kid?" she asked.

"Well, duh! He's the one who came back with Mr. Remington today. Y'know, the one who killed the demon," Joshua replied.

I noticed, with a touch of pride, the mildly impressed look on her face. Then she grinned at me.

"I'm Rosette Christopher," she said, "Joshua's older sister."

Joshua rolled his eyes and muttered something about her being ten times more immature than most kids her age.

"Chrono Furey," I replied.

"So, I want all of you to split into pairs and spar against each other," Mr. Remington instructed. "I grabbed several swords from the armory, so there should be one that best suits each of you."

Rosette had already dragged Joshua off to get their swords, which were aligned side-by-side in the grass. I held the last few swords left over in my hands, but nearly all of them felt too heavy for me. When I looked up, I saw that everyone already had a partner. Again, that first-day-of-school feeling settled in my gut and I suddenly felt left out.

"Hey, I'm free."

I turned to see a tall boy, probably around sixteen, with short, white hair and deep violet eyes that were looking straight at me. I can't explain it, but the vibe I got from him in that moment was really…weird. It was like he could and couldn't be trusted. And the way his eyes bore into me made me feel uneasy. But still, I didn't want to be the _only_ person without a partner.

"All right, sure," I said.

"Is everything ok, gentlemen?"

Mr. Remington came over, his eyes shifting between us as if he expected a brawl to break out at any second. The boy only shrugged with a lazy smile.

"Everything's great, Remington. I just came to see if the newbie wanted to be sparring partners," he answered.

I couldn't help but bristle at that comment. It was really starting to get annoying being only known as the new kid.

"I see," Mr. Remington said slowly. "Chrono, this is Aion and he's a counselor. If you want, you can spar with him or I could be your partner."

"No, it's fine. I'll partner with him," I said quickly. As if teaming up with an instructor wasn't even more of a dead giveaway that I was new here.

A faint look of surprise seemed to cross over Aion's face, but he quickly replaced it with a smug grin before leading me to an open space. I felt a few nearby eyes watching us and the sound of clashing metal quieted down some. Mr. Remington ordered everyone to focus on their own partners.

"You set?"

Aion already had his sword up and I did my best to copy his stance. I just hoped he would go easy on me.

"Yeah, I think so," I said.

"Good."

Before I knew what was happening, Aion was already two steps in front of me with his sword raised over his head. I just barely brought my own up in time to block his swing, the impact rattling all the bones in my arms. He then swung at me from the side and caught me in the ribs. I didn't even have time to feel the stinging blow before he landed another one on my leg.

"Your guard's up too high!" he said.

I quickly lowered it and he whapped me on the shoulder.

"Ow!" I dropped my sword and brought a hand to the aching spot. "Jeez, man!"

"I gave you enough time to block," he replied, an amused look on his face.

I was liking this guy less and less and I wished that I had partnered up with Mr. Remington instead. I wanted to argue that he _hadn't_ given me enough time, but he was already adjusting himself into another ready position. I had to quickly pick my sword back up, knowing that he'd attack at any second. Not like it did me any good.

We sparred for what felt like hours with Aion landing five more blows on me for every time I managed to block one of his onslaughts. These swords may not have been sharp enough to cause any serious injury, but they still hurt when they made contact, leaving welts and bruises the size of oranges in their wake. I was starting to think he was actually enjoying whacking me around like I was his very own personal piñata, because he didn't let up for a second.

By the time Mr. Remington called for a short break, I was covered in sweat and aching all over, my body screaming in protest with every step I took. I joined everyone else around the water cooler and filled up my own cup. I dumped it over my head, already feeling refreshed as the cold water ran over my face and neck.

"You look spectacular."

I opened my eyes and saw Joshua smirking at me while holding his own cup. He too had sweat clinging to his forehead and a few bruises on his arm, but compared to me, he was much better off.

"Gee, thanks," I replied. "I feel spectacular."

That was when Rosette came up beside him, giving me a hard, scrutinizing look.

"Yeah, well, you should consider yourself lucky that Aion is holding back on your butt," she said.

"Holding back?" I scoffed, "Yeah, right."

Rosette clenched her cup with a sound crunch, now glaring at me. "He's holding back," she repeated through gritted teeth. "Trust me."

She gave Joshua a knowing look, which he returned.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, tired of being kept out of the loop. I felt like some kind of an intruder in their secret club or whatever.

They both looked at me with serious expressions, which almost made me wish I hadn't asked. They seemed to be fighting a silent debate to decide who should answer me. Finally, Joshua spoke up.

"Well, Chrono, it's like this…Aion's a half-demon."

* * *

A/N: _Finished! Like I said, I'm still a bit iffy about this chapter, but I'm glad I finally got to put in some new characters. Please let me know if you spot anything that needs to be improved. Also, Nurse Feather, Michael, and Darryl aren't really OCs since they're in the manga. I just gave them first names._

_If you turn to pg. 89 of vol. 7, you can get a good look at Nurse Feather (and some of the other instructors who'll show up later). To see Michael and Darryl, who're two of the Apostles, go to pg. 172 of vol. 8. I just made them older. Ok, that's everything! Thanks for stopping by!_


	4. I Am Allowed to Goof Off in Church

Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Crusade, only a account and a lot of plot bunnies.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**~I Am Allowed to Goof Off in Church~**

After getting my butt handed to me in sword-fighting, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the arts and crafts room, making stained glass windows. The instructor, Mrs. Jean, was really nice and patient with me even when I kept cutting off the score line and ended up with a glass piece shaped like a rhombus instead of a square.

There was another hour of free choice before dinner, so I decided to go and get more settled into my room. Word of my fight against Aion had already spread across the entire campus like wildfire. Even though nobody said anything to me about it, I could feel that their initial curious stares had changed into cautious glances. They were probably talking about it behind my back too. As much as it bugged me to be the center of attention, I was starting to wonder along with everyone else if maybe I had a special knack for attracting demons.

I clenched my fists, my insides flaring up, when I thought back to the end of the lesson where Aion had thrown me a snide "See you around, Newbie!" What did that jerk want with me anyway? I'd never done anything to him. And more importantly, what was a half-demon doing in a demon-fighting camp?

"Chrono!"

I was halfway back to the dorms when I turned around and saw Azmaria running towards me. Behind her was a silver car parked at the entrance where a woman was rummaging around in the trunk.

"Hey, Az!" I called back, going to meet her halfway. It was nice to finally see a familiar face around here.

She gave me a tight hug that nearly made me fall backwards, but it still felt good to get one after a long day.

"I knew you'd be here!" she cried excitedly, taking a step back. She smiled even wider when she saw my shirt.

"How?" I asked her.

"Your mom."

I almost froze at that. Did my mom know where I really was after all? Could she see past the Geas too?

"When I stopped by your place, she said that you'd been at a social studies workshop since summer started. That's when I figured it out," Azmaria went on.

I tried not to look too disappointed as I forced a smile. I should've known it'd be too good to be true.

"Er, do you need help with your stuff?" I asked.

"Oh! That reminds me. Come on"—She grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards her car where the woman was already unloading two suitcases—"Mom, this is Chrono."

I was almost too surprised to say hello. The woman looked nothing like Azmaria with her long, black hair, and gentle brown eyes. She must not have noticed the look on my face, because she returned my greeting, saying that her name was Melda Hendric. She then handed me a suitcase…my suitcase.

"Your mom asked us to bring you your clothes, because you forgot them. Azmaria was bouncing with excitement the whole way when she realized that you were here," she explained, her voice soft and polite.

I shook myself out of my daze. "Wait a second, you _know_ about this place?"

"Of course, I teach the choir activity here, in the chapel," she said.

"Mom's been an instructor here for a few years, before she adopted me anyway," Azmaria added.

"You're _adopted_?" I blurted before I could stop myself. I quickly shut my mouth when I realized how that came out, but Azmaria and her mom only smiled.

"My husband, Ricardo, and I adopted Azmaria when I realized that she could see past the Geas too," Mrs. Hendric replied. "It was much safer for her that way."

Not trusting myself to speak, I simply nodded and helped them with the rest of their luggage. Mrs. Hendric eventually let us go on our way while she went off to take care of some last minute preparations. I had managed to hold back all of my questions, but they started spilling out once we were a good distance away.

"Can your dad see past the Geas too?" I asked.

Azmaria shook her head. "No. He doesn't know anything about this place, which is better for him really," she answered.

"Why?"

"Because demons go after anyone who can see past the Geas, or if he or she has spiritual energy."

"But why can't everyone see past it?"

"It depends," she said. "Sometimes it just happens and certain people are born with the ability. Or you can get it from one of your parents. If you've seen a traumatic event…" She trailed off and I saw her eyes cloud over. Then she shook her head as if to get rid of whatever thoughts were there.

"Er, anything else?" I prodded as gently as I could, not wanting to upset her.

"Some people may have a genetic disorder that causes it, or they might have a certain type of sixth sense. Those are all the factors I know of." She went quiet again.

I wanted to argue that my mom had a clear sixth sense and should've been able to see past the Geas, but I decided not to push the issue anymore. Azmaria looked like she would've started crying if I pried too deeply and a part of me figured that it wouldn't have made a difference anyway. It was like my mom and I were in two separate realities.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Azmaria and I met up with Rosette and Joshua in the mess hall after a tall man wearing a chef's hat and an eye patch fixed us a plate of cheeseburgers and French fries. The sound of voices and clattering food trays bounced off the walls as we searched for an empty table. As soon as we found one, Mr. Remington materialized right next to us.

"Ah, wonderful. The team's all together," he said.

Confused, I looked to the others to see if they knew what he was talking about. I noticed that Rosette's cheeks had turned a light pink, but as soon as she caught me looking, she threw me an annoyed glare. Azmaria and Joshua seemed to be wondering along the same lines I was.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Chrono, I've arranged it so that you're on my team for Flashlight Tag," he said.

A look of realization seemed to dawn on all of their faces, so I did my best not to look completely clueless.

"Great!" I exclaimed. "I, uh, can't wait."

I wondered if I had been too quick to answer because Rosette smirked and rolled her eyes at me. Mr. Remington also seemed to sense that my enthusiasm wasn't all that sincere.

"Don't worry, Chrono, the rules will be explained later on. Trust me, you'll get used to things here quickly," he said, winking at me.

That was the second time I'd heard that today and I still felt like I wouldn't understand anything even by the summer's end. Still, I said "ok" and turned back to my cheeseburger.

"What's going to happen after dinner?" I asked, trying not to sound too much like a new kid. I don't think I pulled it off.

"We'll go to MSP Mass for about an hour," Joshua answered, stirring his chocolate pudding.

"What? Like with praying and peace-be-with-you's?" I said, frowning.

My mom had never really been religious, so I'd never gone to church before. Besides, I didn't really like the idea of trying to memorize all those things you had to say in response to the pastor's statements.

"No, nothing like that," Rosette laughed. "We just go and hang out in the chapel. It's really meant to be a last-minute meeting for the people who're planning to do something at the bonfire. Not a churchgoer?"

I shook my head. "Never been. You?"

"We've been a few times, but only on special holidays," she said. "Mom and Dad keep saying they want Joshua and I to go more often, but—"

"Mom and Dad always want us to do something that'll make _them_ happy," Joshua objected. He was grinning, but it was obviously forced—the same look I used whenever I lied to my mom about how great the weekends I'd spent with my dad had been.

I grinned back to keep things from getting awkward. I glanced over at Rosette, who had suddenly become more interested in her pepperoni pizza.

**XxXxXxXxX**

At about eight o'clock, everyone filed out of the chapel and towards the bonfire pit. MSP Mass had been a lot more fun than I expected. There were only two rules: no profanity and no horseplay. Like Rosette had said, everyone just hung out and talked with their friends, even the instructors, all of whom Azmaria pointed out to me. Most of them looked pretty young except for Mrs. Jean and the Elder, who was a really old guy in a white lab coat and goggles and supervised the metal workshop. Rosette didn't seem to like him all that much and when I asked her why, she only muttered something about a "pervert." At one point, Mike and Darryl, the guy who'd been sparring with Mr. Remington earlier, came over to play hacky sack with the four of us.

Campers, counselors, and instructors all gathered around a huge orange flame that crackled and glowed as the sky got darker and stars started appearing. Lots of people were settling on the log benches that circled the pit while others were laying out blankets on the grass or setting up beach chairs. There were a handful of counselors, Mike and Darryl included, going around with tote bags and passing out marshmallows, roasting forks, Hershey's chocolate bars, and graham crackers.

"Mike, over here!" Joshua called, waving his arm.

The four of us were sharing Rosette's blanket, which was laid out close enough to the fire to feel some of its warmth.

"Good spot," I told her.

It was impossible to miss the proud look on her face. "I reserved early."

Mike was only a few steps away when a tall redhead wearing a shirt that fit a little too closely to her body cut in front of him, smiling sweetly at us. Ok, not trying to sound too full of myself or anything, but I honestly think that she was smiling at _me_.

"Vould you like to make some s'mores?" she asked politely with a heavy German accent.

I looked back at the others to see their reactions. Azmaria looked positively awestruck—like she was meeting a famous rock star. Joshua was also staring and blushing, I think. Rosette, however, was glaring darkly at the girl, who took no notice.

"Um, sure," I answered finally.

"I don't think I've seen you here before," she said. "Are you the new camper everyone's been talking about?"

"Y-yeah…I'm Chrono," I managed to say.

She offered me her hand. "I'm Satella Harvenheit—"

"Hurry up and pass out the s'mores!" Rosette cried.

She then pushed past me and promptly grabbed her ingredients from Satella's bag. I couldn't believe how rude she was being, but Satella only seemed to find this amusing.

"You're such a hothead, Christopher," she remarked, rolling her eyes.

"At least I don't flirt with everything that moves," Rosette shot back. And then she threw me a look as if to silently hint that this was somehow _my_ fault. I glared back at her.

As soon as she had gone back to her spot on the blanket, Joshua was at my side and grabbing his s'more ingredients from Satella's bag, while throwing her an occasional shy smile. Azmaria looked ready to faint the whole time she was getting her stuff.

"I'll see you around, ok, Chrono?" Satella giggled as I put one of my marshmallows on the end of my roasting fork.

Then she winked at me before walking away. I could only watch her leave, my mouth hanging wide open.

"You're drooling," Rosette said.

"Am not." But I wiped at the corners of my mouth anyway.

Almost instantly, Mike was at my side with his arm looped around my shoulder.

"You sure know how to reel 'em in, Chrono," he said slyly.

"B-but I didn't do anything!" I spluttered stupidly, heat rising from my neck to my face. "Who was she anyway?"

I looked to the others for some kind of explanation. As soon as the words left my mouth, Azmaria stared at me in total shock.

"That was Satella Harvenheit!" she exclaimed, as if that explained everything.

"Yeah, I got that much," I said, not showing any kind of reaction. "Is she a counselor or something?"

"That and one of the best jewel witches here!" she added.

"Actually, Azmaria, she's one of the only jewel witches here. Her, her sister and her mom, Madame Harvenheit," Joshua corrected her.

Rosette only scoffed. "She's an arrogant and spoiled little rich girl." She violently impaled another marshmallow with her fork.

At the risk of sounding ignorant, I asked,

"Ok, what are jewel witches?"

"They use the power of magical jewels to summon powerful creatures," Azmaria answered.

I gave her a half-smile, trying to seem like I shared her excitement. Not that I wasn't glad Satella had spoken to me—let alone _flirted_ with me. Let's just say that, under less bizarre circumstances, girls and I don't usually mix and leave it at that.

Conversations slowly died down as Sister Kate cleared her throat and waited for everyone's attention. She had changed out of her blouse and into a camp T-shirt.

"So, how is everyone tonight?"

Everyone cheered, some campers even waving their flaming marshmallows around over their heads.

"All right then, first things first: we have a new camper with us this year," Sister Kate began. "Chrono, if you would come forward please."

Nervously, I stood up and made my way over, nearly tripping over one of the benches. A few people snickered quietly, but they stopped when Sister Kate placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Everyone, this is Chrono Furey. I'm sure you'll all make him feel welcomed," she said.

Before going back to my spot, I caught a glimpse of Aion looking right at me through the flames. He was sitting further in the back and away from the crowd. There was some gothic chick hanging onto him and tracing his jaw with a black-painted fingernail, but he hardly paid her any attention as he flashed me a smirk. I glared back before moving on. Sister Kate took a seat in a beach chair and Mr. Remington stepped forward. I saw Rosette quickly straighten her posture to get a better look at him.

"Hello campers!" he announced, smiling at the crowd. "As you all know, our first game of Flashlight Tag will be coming up next Friday"—loud, excited cheers erupted from everyone—"so I want to go over the rules. Remember: each team must have a Leader, a Guide, a Spotter, and a Protector. Protectors, when battling, you are _only_ to disarm your opponent. If you try anything other than that, you will be severely punished." He looked around at everyone, letting the warning hang in the air.

"Only Guides can scout out their teams' routes during the daytime and with an instructor's permission. No two teams may travel the same route to get back to home base. Meetings will start Monday evening, carry on through Thursday, and then the first game will be on Friday after MSP Mass. You guys got that?"

Again, everyone cheered and stomped their feet. I was even starting to look forward to playing this game. Of course, it didn't sound like any kind of Flashlight Tag I'd ever heard of before.

With that being said, Mr. Remington sat down and let the entertainment for the evening begin. The whole thing was a mix of sing-along's and improvised skits that had us all laughing until our sides hurt. It wasn't until midnight, a whole hour later than the scheduled lights out, that the celebration came to an end and we all went back to our dormitories to get a good night's sleep.

As soon as my head hit my pillow, I closed my eyes and actually found myself looking forward to spending the summer here.

* * *

A/N: _Wow, this is the first chapter where I haven't put a beginning Author's Note._

_Anyway, I can't help but think of this chapter as a filler one, but it finally brings an end to Chrono's arrival at Magdalan. And I got to explain things a little more. Phew!_

_Thanks for reading. Suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcomed._


	5. There's No Day Like Monday

**READ THIS A/N: **_All right, guys, here's the deal. I'm going to be out of town for the rest of May. That's about two and a half weeks. I'll have my computer with me, but I don't think I'll be able to upload anything for a while. Don't worry; I'll be working on this story in my spare time so I can post the next chapters ASAP. Thank you very much to everyone who's kept up with the story so far and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**~There's No Day Like Monday~**

Monday came around for me at about seven o'clock in the morning when the large church bell rang and counselors came around, knocking on everybody's door. I laid in bed for an extra five minutes before finally kicking off my blankets and dragging myself to the showers.

After changing into some clean clothes, I caught up with Joshua in the lounging area downstairs and walked with him to the mess hall where long lines of campers were already forming. Azmaria eventually joined us, but Rosette was nowhere in sight to glare at Satella, who had greeted me with a coy "good morning, Chrono."

"She's probably sleeping in again," Joshua yawned. "She always does this."

I was still trying to wake up, so I hardly registered his words.

After breakfast, everybody wandered off in their own separate ways, which left me to rotate through different activities to find something I was good at.

First, I went to foreign languages, but I quickly found out that today's studied language—Italian—was not for me. Madame Harvenheit looked like she wanted to strangle me when I accidentally mispronounced the Italian word for 'nap.'

And you can forget target practice, even though it was pretty cool that we got to shoot with paintball guns. I don't know how many glares I received for hitting someone else's bullseye board instead of my own. Rosette, however, was an ace sharpshooter. She'd showed up ten minutes late with her hair all over the place and panting like she had just run a marathon, but that didn't seem to matter as we all watched her hit the center of her bullseye with every shot. Even Mr. Vronski, the creepy, scarred instructor whose bulging muscles put every bodybuilder I'd ever seen on TV to shame, was impressed.

For my last morning activity, I stepped into a random classroom, not really caring which one it was. It was dimly lit, illuminated by the small lamps sitting in each corner, and had a projection screen at the front. There was a sea of beanbag chairs and lap desks patiently waiting for the rest of the class.

"Go ahead and pick a seat," the instructor said. "Once I get this PowerPoint going, we'll get started."

She looked like she was in college with long, silvery hair pulled into plaited pigtails and green eyes shielded behind her round glasses. She was typing on her laptop, which sat on a computer cart along with the projector, and a large, leather-bound book.

"Uh, what class is this?" I asked her.

"This is runes. I'm Matilda Leibler, your instructor," she replied.

I sat in a bright orange beanbag chair and scooted up closer to a desk. On top of it sat an eagle-feathered quill, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of parchment a lot like the one that Mr. Remington had shown me.

The class gradually filled up as the instructor brought up a bunch of files that had scanned pictures of different symbols…the same symbols from that weird story I'd read. By now, it felt like that had happened a long time ago.

Aion and Rosette were in the last group of people to come in and Aion pulled up a dark blue seat right next to mine just as Rosette started walking towards me. Her expression changed from startled to suspicious, but then she strode by as if she hadn't even seen me. I turned around in my seat, confused, only to see her giving me an evil look.

"Looks like your girlfriend's mad at you, C-man," Aion said, sparing her a quick glance over his shoulder.

"Shut up," I muttered, not even caring that he had used my dad's stupid nickname for me.

This close up, his not-so-human features were easier to spot. His ears were slightly pointed and his pair of canines fit perfectly against his bottom teeth.

"Come on, you're not still sore because I whipped your butt in sword-fighting, are you?" he whispered to me, obviously fighting back a laugh.

I knew he was just trying to get to me and I wasn't going to let him. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to keep ignoring him. With a sense of satisfaction, I heard him give a defeated sigh. And then I noticed that a lot of the other kids were giving us wary looks while making sure they were a good ten feet away. The atmosphere in the room became really tense and I knew that they were torn between paying attention to the lesson and watching us, anxious to see if I'd have to decapitate another demon…

"Aion, how kind of you to join us," Ms. Leibler said curtly.

"Yeah, well, I'd _hate_ to miss out on my favorite class, Matilda," he replied with just a hint of sarcasm.

She stared him down for a few seconds before turning back to her computer.

"Runes are the earliest evidence that we have of the demons' language. However, based on multiple observations, especially those by the French demonology scholar, Alfred Remy, it appears that the language has changed so much that not even the youngest generation of demons could understand these symbols you see in front of you"—she clicked to a scan of a long line of symbols painted on a stone tablet.

Not even a second later, they seemed to float in front of me before turning into plain English.

_Beware of the Disdainful Ones. They are north of this stone._

I blinked several times and the words changed back to symbols.

"This particular piece here is suspected to have been found by one of the early pilgrims of the Lost Colony only weeks before the colony's mysterious disappearance," Ms. Leibler went on. "I've been studying this picture for a little over a month now and I still cannot translate its meaning."

"Ms. Leibler," I heard Rosette say, "why do we need to learn the demons' language? I thought we were supposed to be fighting against them?" Most of the others nodded in agreement.

"That's a very valid question," Ms. Leibler replied, turning to face her. "Why _should_ we learn about the creatures who only want to destroy us? It's simple. The more you know about your enemy, the better prepared you are to fight them."

She gave us a moment to absorb her words before clicking to the next picture. This time, the symbols had been written on notebook paper and in pen.

_Welcome to Magdalan Summer Progress. I am Matilda Leibler, your runes instructor. I am also a counselor._

"Now, you all should still have your key charts from last year. Use them to help you with this translation," she instructed. "Chrono, I'll get you a chart of your own."

"That's ok, I know what it says," I stated.

She stopped what she was doing and gave me a skeptical look. I felt my throat go dry as everyone stared at me. There was a nagging feeling somewhere in my mind that told me I should've kept my mouth shut, but I went on to recite the words in front of me just to prove I wasn't trying to be a know-it-all. When I finished, the room was dead silent and Ms. Leibler's mouth hung open in total shock.

"Um, I'm sorry…" I started to apologize, but she held up a hand as the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile.

"I'm very impressed, Chrono. Have you ever—no, this is your first year here, right?"

I nodded, relaxing some when I realized I wasn't in trouble. Then she had everyone copy down the translation and Aion turned to me.

"Well, aren't you a smarty-pants?" he remarked. Something about the way he said that, like he was surprised or even…impressed, maybe.

I only rolled my eyes before putting my attention back on the lecture.

**XxXxXxXxX**

I had taken several steps outside on my way to lunch when Rosette came up beside me and said,

"The guy beats you up in sword-fighting and now you're study buddies?"

"What?"

She gave me a frustrated look. "Everyone here knows to stay away from Aion."

I felt myself getting angry. "He came and sat next to me!" I retorted. "And what's he doing here anyway if he's a half-demon?" I also wanted to point out that she didn't have to act like I was already supposed to know all of this. I _did_ just get here after all.

"All I know is that he's here year-round, ok?" she said. "Just stay away from him."

"Year-round as in he's not allowed to leave?"

I could tell she was getting more annoyed with me. As if _I_ was the one not making any sense. But somehow I had the feeling that I was right.

"It doesn't matter why he's here," she replied. "Just don't get too friendly with him."

With that, she marched off with the rest of the crowd while I spun around to go back inside the main building. I didn't feel like eating while having to see that patronizing look on her face. I decided to head for the library, which was on the second floor and across from the camp store, my mind trying to work through everything she'd just told me.

The library here was pretty amazing. It had a seemingly infinite number of books and several computers for campers to play on, but not download any kind of games or music. The librarian was eating her lunch behind the front desk where I signed in. I toyed with the idea of e-mailing my mom, but the computers all had campers sitting at them. I stood there, feeling kind of stupid as I tried to think of what else I could do in the meantime.

"Oh, do you want a computer?"

I turned to meet the girl who had spoken. "Huh?"

She got out of her chair and motioned to the computer while brushing a loose strand of her platinum blonde hair away from her face. The rest of it was pulled back in a plaited ponytail.

"I'm finished if you want it," she said.

"Oh yeah, thanks." I walked over to her.

"You're that new camper, right?" she said next. "We were both in foreign languages this morning."

I nodded even though I didn't remember seeing her. I'd been too busy trying to keep up and apologize to Madame Harvenheit for my slipup. "I'm Chrono."

She smiled and her blue eyes lit up. "I'm Mary Magdalene. And yeah, it's pronounced the same way as the camp."

"Er…sorry to hear that," I replied, grinning back at her.

"It's all right. It's mostly for my parents, though. They set up a trust fund for the place." Then she sighed as though she'd explained this a hundred times before.

"So, does that mean they…?"

She shook her head, trying not to laugh. "No, they think its some kind of exclusive bible study camp."

I started to laugh too. Actually, she was really pretty and I couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to her. I opened my mouth to say something else, but another, louder voice cut me off.

"Hey, Mary! I found it!"

The excited voice bounced off the high ceiling and filled the whole library. Nearly everybody was startled into staring at the girl in a white, short-sleeved and cat-eared hoodie who was practically bouncing over to us. The librarian gave a harsh "sh" as she glared in our general direction.

Mary seemed to give me an apologetic smile before turning to calm the girl down before we all got kicked out.

"So, this is the book you've been looking for, Shader?" she said quietly.

Shader nodded, nearly sending her glasses off the end of her nose. Her messy brown hair flew all over the place when she held up the book, a cat-like grin on her face.

"This is the one!" she exclaimed. "With this, I can finish my metalworking project for the Elder!"

Just as Mary held up her hands to gesture for Shader to quiet down, the strange cat-girl spotted me and grinned in a way that made me wary of whatever was going through her mind. I got the feeling that she was wondering if I would make a decent guinea pig for some kind of science experiment.

"Who's this?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Chrono, meet Shader Alessi, my team member," Mary said.

"You mean for Flashlight Tag?"

Shader's grin grew wider. "That's right! Along with Aion and Rizelle, of course."

They must've expected my reaction, because they waited for me to stop spluttering like an idiot before Mary said,

"Seems like a real motley crew, huh?"

I blinked. "It doesn't bother you?"

Shader shrugged. "Sure, Aion's a touch arrogant, but…you get used to it after a while."

I had a feeling she knew I was actually talking about Aion being a half-demon. I looked to Mary, who only gave me an understanding smile. They both knew exactly what I had meant.

"We'll let you get back to whatever you were doing," she said. "See you around, Chrono."

I hadn't even registered that I'd said goodbye until I sat down at the computer. My thoughts were going haywire. How could they be so casual about being in the same group as a half-demon? Rosette's warning popped back into my mind.

Sighing, I brought up the Internet browser and played several rounds of some game similar to Pac-Man, all thoughts of writing to my mom gone.

**XxXxXxXxX**

The rest of the day went by normally. Well, as normal as it gets in a demon-fighting camp. At some point during one of the afternoon activities, there had been a loud explosion from the metal workshop. I was so startled that I'd almost fallen out of my chair in weaponry and tactician. Nearly everybody laughed, but no one seemed to pay any attention to the explosion.

"Don't worry," the instructor, Mr. Gilliam, assured me. "That always happens at least once a week." His serious, chiseled face broke into a smile that I couldn't return. Every part of me was still shaking.

Later on, at dinner, Rosette seemed to have forgotten all about our morning conversation because she was shoving food into her mouth like nothing had happened. I'd spotted Mary and Shader sitting and laughing with Aion and that Rizelle girl. I couldn't help but smile when I saw how much fun they seemed to be having. It was like Aion wasn't any different from the other campers. I started to wonder if maybe he wasn't the dangerous monster everyone seemed to be waiting for him to turn into.

"What're you smiling at?" Rosette, her mouth full of food, gave me a weird look along with Joshua and Azmaria.

"Yeah, you seem a bit distant, Chrono," Azmaria added politely.

I shook my head. "I'm fine. Really!" I said hurriedly, flashing them a cheerful grin.

They watched me for another second or two before turning back to their dinners. I mentally sighed with relief. I had faked that one ok.

At about nine o'clock, the four of us went to the girls' dormitories (which had a huge lime green banner with the words 'GIRLS ONLY' in hot pink hanging over the entrance) and met Mr. Remington in the lounge.

"All right, team, let's get down to business," he said, sitting up straight in his armchair. "To start with, you need to come up with our team name and then start on a strategy in order to win Flashlight Tag. Any questions?"

Without hesitating, I raised my hand. "Yeah. How does this game work?"

Smiling, he leaned back in his seat again. "Ah, good question, Chrono. Well, for starters, the objective of the game is to be the first team to get to home base, which is the mess hall this year. As I mentioned before, each team member has a role—"

"Yeah, the Spotter, Guide, Leader, and Protector," I said.

"Don't interrupt!" Rosette hissed at me. She stared me down like I was some little kid.

"I wasn't! I was just—"

"Ok, you two. Let me finish," Mr. Remington interrupted, chuckling at us. "Now, the teams are to go into the neighboring forest at whatever starting point the Guide picks out. Your starting point must be a good many feet away from the forest entrance. The Spotter carries the flashlight while the Guide and Leader work together on getting back to base. Are you keeping up so far, Chrono?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Good. Now, if, along the way, the Spotter finds another team that may…hinder your progress, so to speak, he or she will tag that team with the flashlight and thus declare a challenge. That's where the Protector comes in. The Protectors from each team will battle with whatever weapons they've chosen and when one of the Protectors has been disarmed, that team is automatically out of the game," he finished.

I nodded slowly, trying to process all of that as best I could. Ok, it was almost like regular Flashlight Tag but with weapons. I could deal with that.

"So, now you all must come up with a team name," Mr. Remington said. "Any suggestions?"

"How about The Adventurers?" Joshua said.

"Or the Cafeteria Squad?" Azmaria piped up.

We all cracked up at that one except for Rosette who was frowning in deep thought. Finally, she looked up from her feet, her eyes sparkling with sudden inspiration.

"I've got it!" she exclaimed. "Let's call ourselves Rosette and Her Crusaders!"

Everyone went silent. I rolled my eyes. The looks on both Azmaria's and Joshua's faces plainly showed what they were thinking. Mr. Remington also looked uncomfortable, like he didn't want to burst her bubble, but he only gave her a polite smile.

I probably should've kept my mouth shut too, but I just couldn't resist. "All in favor?"

I tried not to look too pleased with myself when Rosette shot me a really impressive death glare. Even Azmaria and Joshua were trying not to laugh while Mr. Remington was carefully studying the ceiling.

Rosette growled. "Well, I don't hear _you_ making any suggestions, Furman."

"Furey."

"Whatever."

Then their eyes all fell on me as Mr. Remington gave me an encouraging nod. Great.

I thought for a moment. It wouldn't be _that_ hard to come up with something better than 'Rosette and Her Crusaders,' but it still had to be good enough to shut Rosette up.

"How about…we just call ourselves Crusaders?" I suggested with a half shrug.

"That sounds pretty cool," said Joshua.

Azmaria nodded before carefully lifting her hand into the air. Joshua and I did the same. Rosette, however, looked positively scandalized. Big surprise.

"You ripped off my idea!" she protested angrily. For a second, I thought she was going to punch me, but instead she turned to Father Remington, her tone almost pleading. "Sir, that's not fair, is it?"

Mr. Remington scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Rosette, but the majority wins," he said cautiously. "Besides, let's not spend so much time on the group name. What's more important is your strategy."

Despite his attempt to change the subject, Rosette sulked for the rest of the meeting. She barely added any input of her own and only shot down my ideas as the rest of us started making up a gameplan. I tried not to let it get to me, because that was all she could do, but it took a lot of patience for me not to turn around and ask her if _she_ had any better ideas.

It was a little after ten-thirty when we finally came up with a fairly decent strategy and all of our roles on the team were decided. Joshua would be the Guide and go into the forest tomorrow during free choice to start planning our route. Azmaria would be the Spotter. Rosette would be the Leader. That was probably the only time she put an idea down. And last but not least, I would be the Protector. I'd been planning to be the Spotter, but after Rosette's maybe-you-don't want-to get-your-butt-whipped-again-in-sword-fighting comment, I had no choice but to choose Protector. I could tell she'd been struggling to keep a straight face when I told Mr. Remington that I could handle it. As much as I hate to admit it, I couldn't blame her. There was no way I'd stand a chance against any of the other teams on Friday.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"You really know how to get to my sister, don't you?" Joshua told me as we headed back to the boys' dormitories. He gave me a mischievous grin that also seemed to be mildly impressed.

"What're you talking about? She started it," I grumbled.

He laughed at that when we made it to our hallway where everybody was getting ready for bed, but stopped when he saw an envelope halfway tucked into his door with his name and Magdalan's address written on it in cursive. He snatched it out and examined it only to carelessly shove it into his pocket.

"You're not going to read it?" I asked.

The look on his face suddenly made me wish I hadn't. At first, it seemed like he was going to give me a forced grin—a lot like the one he'd given me once before—but then he gave me a pointed stare that didn't suit him at all.

"You've got one too," he said simply.

I turned around and sure enough, I had my own envelope with just 'Chrono' written on it in plain print. Frowning, I picked it up and started to open it. It couldn't have been from my mom since the handwriting wasn't hers.

I heard Joshua's door close and the lock click. I was about to go apologize for whatever I'd done to make him mad, but my curiosity got the better of me as I ripped the envelope open. Inside was a folded note that had only two sentences scrawled across it.

**Meet me on Friday after I beat you in Flashlight Tag. I've got a favor to ask.**

You think that my first thought would be to ask around to see who had sent this or to at least throw it away. But the only thing going through my mind was: _Huh?_

* * *

A/N: _I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of you thought Rosette was OOC here, but I promise there's a reason for it. It'll be explained as things progress._

_Also, the Italian word for 'nap' is _pisolino_. Chrono assumedly mispronounced it and said _pisellino_, which can translate to 'small pea' or a certain part of the male anatomy that rhymes with small 'shmenis.'_

_Since I'm going to be gone for a while, I'll do something different this time. Below is a small snippet of the next chapter (which is still being worked on). Feel free to comment on it or throw out any suggestions for what you think could happen since I'm a little stuck at the moment._

* * *

I kept my mouth shut and stood up to follow Aion as he led me out of the library.

I tried to ignore the stares and whispers as we walked down the hallway. They had died down over the span of the week, but I knew by dinnertime, I'd no longer be "Chrono the normal camper who _wasn't_ best friends with the obnoxious half-demon."

We eventually came outside and to a corner of the surrounding stonewall on the far end of the courtyard and a good distance away from the other campers.

"Did you get my note?" Aion said, grinning with his usual arrogance.

"So it _was_ you!" I blurted.

Somehow I was and wasn't surprised by this news. He only seemed to find my expression funny.

He leaned against the wall. "Did you seriously think I'd be that nice to you forever? I just wanted to give you some time to think about it."

All I could think about was how I should've known it was him. I should've known these past few days of quiet would come to an end sooner or later.

"Next time you want someone to do you a favor, you should try fitting in a simple please," I said, clenching my fists.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"What do you want anyway?"

At this he stood up straight again, all teasing gone from his face and replaced with seriousness. I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"You're good at runes, right? Better than Leibler." He took a deep breath. "I need you to—"


	6. Flashlight Tag

**A/N: **_Hey guys! I'm back with the new chapter. Before going into it though, I just want to thank you all for being patient and for your great reviews. This chapter is kind of long, just to warn you now._

_Shadow-chan, your comment about the note from Aion really helped me out and I've gone back to fix it for this chapter._

_Without further ado…Chapter Six! Let the games begin!_

Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Crusade, just a bad habit of falling up stairs…

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**~Flashlight Tag…MSP Style~**

As Friday drew nearer, I settled into what I guess you could call a normal routine. Everyday I tried a new activity ranging from medi-training with Nurse Feather to running the obstacle course with Storm Valerie.

"Don't call me 'Mister'," he said. "It makes me feel old."

Then I would usually spend free choice with Mary and Shader somewhere on campus. For a while, it was kind of weird to hear them talk so casually about Aion, unlike everybody else who would stoop their voices low whenever they said his name. I even remembered the look on Mike's face when he had asked if Aion was still bugging me. He'd acted like he was expecting the guy to suddenly appear behind him and give him an atomic wedgie.

More surprising than the fact that Aion _was_ leaving me alone was that I actually found myself trying to talk to him. I was sure that he was the one who had sent me that weird note and I wanted to ask him about it, but he seemed to be ignoring me all of a sudden. He hadn't even tried to sit next to me in runes again but on the other side of the room. I was tempted to ask Mary and Shader if he was feeling sick and why he had let up all of a sudden, but I didn't want anyone to start thinking that I was actually _worried_ about his wellbeing. Besides, after Rosette had caught the three of us hanging out one day, I didn't want to give her anymore reason to glare at me during group meetings like she was plotting my death.

Still, it hadn't taken her long to get over her grudge from Monday and to come up with a new strategy for Flashlight Tag. Well, more like a hundred new strategies. She kept changing her mind so often about the best routes to follow and the teams we should focus on taking out that it was becoming hard to keep up with her at all. She acted like her life depended on coming up with _the _perfect strategy. As a matter of fact, it seemed like both she and Joshua were uptight about something. I wondered if it had anything to do with that letter Joshua had gotten, but I didn't dare ask, especially after remembering the look on his face. Whatever it was, it made Rosette even more of a pain than usual.

And speaking of pain, Mr. Remington had managed to corner me in the hallways on Wednesday and drag me to another sword-fighting lesson. His excuse was that I needed all the practice I could get before Friday night. This time, I paired up against him. He taught me the basic attack techniques and slashes for the first half of the lesson before moving on to the defense parries by having us spar against each other. He didn't hesitate to bruise me up in the process, but it wasn't as painful as my duel against Aion had been.

It was both funny and weird to think how this was the same guy who'd been lecturing me on the Boston Tea Party only a few weeks ago and now he was teaching me sword-fighting. By the end of the hour, I could actually hold my own against him even when he was only half-trying, which boosted my self-esteem up by several points. I wasn't dreading Friday anymore at the very least.

When it did finally come, I found Mary and Shader tinkering away on one of Shader's newest inventions. The librarian was watching them with vulture eyes and flinched every time she saw a spark fly from the contraption. The other people in the library also seemed to be giving their table a wide amount of space.

"Chrono!" Mary waved me over and I sat cautiously sat down across from them. There were metal pieces and tools scattered all over the table.

"New device?" I asked.

"Yup. Don't worry, though, this one doesn't spontaneously fire random projectiles," Shader said, grinning at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Good to know."

I'd found out the hard way on Wednesday that you never wanted to be too close to Shader when she was working on something. I had to admire Mary's bravery—I still had a small bump on my head from where that metal piece had flown at me.

"Are you ready for tonight?" said Mary, passing Shader a screw.

"I guess so. You guys?" I answered, hoping that I didn't sound too worried. Just as long as Rosette didn't spring another new-and-improved strategy on us.

It might've been my imagination, but I thought I saw a strange look in her eyes. It seemed to say that she wasn't looking forward to tonight at all.

Shader straightened her posture with her chin tilted upward. "We're totally ready. No one stands a chance against the Gothic Kitty Squad!"

I knew she was being serious, but I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing. People were probably looking at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care as I tried to catch my breath.

"Sh-shut up, Chrono!" Shader spluttered, her face going bright red. "It's an awesome name!"

I saw Mary smiling weakly, but looking unsurprised.

"Who…whose idea?" I gasped, unable to get a full sentence out.

"Well, Shader and Rizelle couldn't agree on a name," Mary began as though she had already rehearsed this particular explanation. "Rizelle wanted Gothic Avengers and Shader wanted us to be the Super Kitty Troupe, so we…sort of combined them."

I had to force myself to stop chuckling, especially when Shader tried to kick me under the table.

That was when an all too familiar voice drawled, "Now, isn't this adorable?"

We looked up. It was Aion. He sauntered over to us and sat on the edge of the table, completely oblivious to the evil glare the librarian was settling on him.

"Hello, ladies," he said, smiling at Mary and Shader.

"Hi, Aion," they both greeted him.

"You wouldn't mind if I borrowed your playmate for a moment, would you?"

I was about to tell him to get lost, but then I remembered the note. And the looks on both Mary's and Shader's faces were silently asking me to be nice. So I kept my mouth shut and stood up to follow him as he led me out of the library. I tried to ignore the stares and whispers as we walked down the hallway. They had died down over the span of the week, but I knew by dinnertime, I'd no longer be "Chrono the Normal Camper Who _Wasn't_ Best Friends with the Obnoxious Half-Demon."

We eventually came outside and to a corner of the surrounding stonewall on the far end of the courtyard and a good distance away from the other campers.

"Did you get my note?" Aion said, grinning with his usual arrogance.

"So what if I did?"

I tried not to look like I'd spent the week burning with reluctant curiosity as to what he could possibly want from me. He didn't look like he'd expected me to be surprised and only seemed to find my expression funny.

He leaned against the wall. "You didn't seriously think I'd be that nice to you forever? I just wanted to give you some time to think about it."

"Yeah, well, next time you want someone to do you a favor, you should try fitting in a simple please," I said, clenching my fists.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"What do you want anyway?"

At this he stood up straight again, all teasing gone from his face and replaced with seriousness. I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"You're good at runes, right? Better than Leibler." He took a deep breath. "I need you to—"

"Chrono!"

I spun around and saw Rosette marching towards us. I half-expected her to be staring me down with one of her trademark glares, but her expression was unreadable. Where the heck had she come from? Her timing couldn't have been worse too. Judging by the tightened frown on Aion's face, he was thinking the same thing. I thought she was going to yell at me, but she only shot a hard look at him before grabbing my wrist.

"Come on, we need to hurry before we're late for demonology," she muttered, yanking me along with her.

"What're you—I've already been there. Mr. Matthews freaks me out," I protested.

And I wasn't kidding. Mr. Matthews, a tall, old man with long, grey hair and a limp in his walk, always liked to pull out his collection of pickled demon body parts that he'd salvaged over the years. The first (and last) time I was there, he tried to make me dissect the stomach of a demon that had attacked him in New Hampshire in front of the whole class. Fortunately for me, one kid had thrown up just before I'd made the first cut and he called for an early dismissal. Needless to say, I'd skipped lunch after that particular lesson.

"Just come on."

I looked back at Aion, who was simply standing there and watching us leave. What was he going to ask me? As much as I was glad to be away from him, I couldn't help but feel angry with Rosette for butting in like that.

"What's your problem?" I asked her once we had left him behind. Despite her strong grip, I managed to free my wrist.

She whirled around, her soft features warped with agitation. "I told you that everyone stays away from Aion. Why do you keep hanging around him and his weirdo friends?"

I felt my temper rising. "Why do you care? And they're not weirdos!"

I was only halfheartedly thinking about the fact that I had more or less defended Aion when I said that. Rosette didn't seem to be worrying about this at all as her eyebrows furrowed into an acute V-shape.

"How do I know you're not giving away our strategy for tonight?"

I couldn't decide whether to roll my eyes or start yelling. "Is that all you're worried about?" I snapped back.

"Of course not! My problem is that you seem to keep forgetting _what_ he is!"

"What's that? Half-human, half-unicorn?" I scoffed.

At this point, she let out a frustrated cry before punching me in the arm. Hard. Then she stomped off without another word.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Still uptight from my argument with Rosette, I made my way back to the sword-fighting court with the urge to hit something. For some reason, I suddenly found myself gravitating towards the sandy patch more often than I thought I would. I even came back yesterday just because it felt weird not to be under the sun and with my fingers wrapped around a cold, metal hilt. Maybe I just needed to see it from a different angle that didn't include me lying flat on my back thanks to a certain half-demon.

I sparred against several other campers this time and actually managed to beat them one by one, which loosened me up a lot more. Taking a break, I went to get a drink of water only to be joined by Mr. Remington.

"You're doing very well today, Chrono," he said mildly.

"I guess so," I replied.

He regarded me silently for a second. "Did your conversation with Aion not go well?"

I gave him a startled look and he flashed me a casual smirk. Sometimes I wondered if he could read minds.

"News travels fast here, remember?" he chuckled. "What were you both talking about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"We hardly talked about anything before Rosette came butting in," I growled. "Why can't she lay off me for once? It's not like I _asked_ Aion to become my personal campus stalker."

To my surprise and annoyance, Mr. Remington was fighting back a laugh during my whole rant. He then tried to cover it up with a loud cough when he saw the look on my face.

"Sorry, Chrono. I'm not laughing at you"—_Obviously, _I thought—"It's just that I can and can't blame Rosette for her…attitude."

"Of course not," I said. "It's not her fault she's a nagging cow."

This time Mr. Remington gave me a halfhearted reprimanding look. "Don't be so hard on her, Chrono. Is it fair to single her out even though most people here seem to share her viewpoint?" He eyed me carefully.

Ok, I hadn't thought of it like that before. Instead of admitting that to him, I said,

"But if we're supposed to be fighting demons, why is Aion here? How come he hasn't been vaporized by the Geas?"

Mr. Remington looked like someone had just punched him in the gut, but then he just sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"All I can tell you is that Aion's a special case. Try not to worry about it too much," he said. His strained smile made it obvious that he didn't want to talk about this anymore, so I pushed away my other hundred questions.

"Fine," I said.

"And please try to be nicer to Rosette." I didn't know if he was joking or not. "Anyway, if you can handle a sword like you are now, you should have no problems tonight, against the other teams or demons—"

I gagged and spat out my water like a cartoon character as I turned to him. "What?" I coughed, pounding at my chest. "Demons off campus?"

He only nodded as if I had said the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's right. The Geas surrounding the borders of the forest isn't quite as strong as it is here, so sometimes a weak demon or two will manage to sneak in." Then he rubbed his hands together as an excited glint sparked in his eyes. "Personally, I think it makes things more interesting. Wouldn't you agree?"

**XxXxXxXxX**

By eight o'clock, all the teams for Flashlight Tag gathered outside the mess hall.

It was a warm night and the air had a spicy smell to it. Spirits were running high as team members discussed their strategies one last time and some of the Protectors proudly showed off their weapons and taunted each other. I gripped the metal cross in my hand a little tighter, my insides squirming into tangled knots.

I only vaguely heard Rosette and Joshua talking to each other in low voices about our strategy. Honestly, I didn't care if we won or lost. I just hoped that we wouldn't run into any demons. Minutes later, Mr. Remington appeared on the steps in front of the mess hall and called for everybody's attention.

"In just a moment, you can all head off to your starting positions, but first, let's introduce our competitors!" he announced.

As he called out the names of each team, the members cheered as loud as they could. When he called the Gothic Kitty Squad last, a few snickers erupted behind me while others, Rosette included, rolled their eyes. I looked at Mary and saw that she didn't look as nervous as she had earlier.

"You will have thirty minutes to station yourselves," Mr. Remington continued. "After that, I'll fire the signal flare and the game will start. Off you go!"

The crowd flooded through the front gate, a group of boys (the Metallicas, I think) bragging to each other about what they'd do if a demon had the nerve to attack them.

"That's Billy Cage's team," Joshua said, coming up beside me. "We're not going to challenge them. See? Billy's using one of the Tommy submachine paintball guns."

"How do they expect to take on demons with those?" I asked him.

He only grinned at me. "They aren't loaded with your average paintballs."

"Do demons always attack during this game?" I realized how whiny that sounded, but I didn't care.

"Hardly, but…you never know." _That_ didn't make me feel any better, but it was all he said just before I heard leaves crunching under my feet.

We were in the forest.

It seemed to have gotten five times darker now that we were here, even with Azmaria lighting the way for us. I could hear the other campers treading past the trees and shouting to each other. One by one, more flashlights flicked on.

"Chrono! Over here!" Rosette hissed.

She and the others were already several paces ahead of me and getting closer to our starting position. I nearly fell on my face trying to catch up with them, but she caught me by the arm.

"Graceful, aren't we?" she said, smirking.

"Whatever."

"Scared?"

"You wish."

She let go of my arm. "Gee, you're welcome."

Our starting point was behind a dirt ledge and near a flowing creek. The black treetops sort of made a circle over our heads that the crescent moon gave us some light. Azmaria flicked the flashlight off and we all crouched and waited. Except for the cricket chirps and the rustling of leaves whenever one of us adjusted our positions so our legs didn't fall asleep, it was dead silent.

Sometimes I hated quiet and sometimes I didn't mind it. Right now, I hated it because it was the nothing-to-do-not-allowed-to-talk kind of quiet. Not unless we wanted another team or a demon to find us. I checked my watch. Ten minutes to go.

"How far are we from where we came in?" I whispered, picking up a twig and bending it into random shapes.

"Pretty far," Azmaria replied. "Remember, the plan was to get as far away from any other team as possible, so we can avoid too many duels and focus on being the first ones back to home base."

I nodded, still feeling relieved by that plan. But I will admit that a part of me was hoping for at least one duel just to see if I really had gotten better at sword-fighting.

A loud crack tore through the quiet.

My attention snapped upward and I saw a lightning bolt shoot into the sky before exploding into a shower of red sparks. Everything all around us glowed bright red and Rosette yelled,

"Go!"

I jumped to my feet and onto the ledge, running as fast as I could with the glow as a temporary light. Slowly, it died down to darkness, forcing Azmaria to turn the flashlight back on. We all stuck close together with Joshua leading us along the path we'd spent the whole week planning. In the distance, beams of light zigzagged all over as several teams dueled against each other. The paintball guns sounded like bursts of firecrackers and we even caught a glimpse of one of Satella's jewel beasts, which looked like a giant, glowing bull in armor. I felt sorry for whoever was fighting against that thing.

For the most part, we'd been lucky to avoid any challenges and were probably halfway through the forest when our luck finally ran out.

A bright beam of light shot out of nowhere and hit me right in the face. I winced and turned away from it only to be roughly shoved to the ground.

"Hiya, C-man." Aion stood over me, his lightsaber sword already activated.

Behind him Shader and Mary looked uneasy, as if they'd been secretly hoping that he wouldn't come after me, while that Rizelle girl was gazing at him in complete, lovestruck awe. I got to my feet and flicked my sword-hand before getting into a ready position.

"Ooh, feeling brave enough to come for another beating?" he taunted as we circled each other.

Even though I felt my temper getting the better of me, I didn't take my eyes off of him. My heart was pounding in my ears as my mind raced through everything I'd learned from Mr. Remington.

Aion made the first move by lunging forward and thrusting his sword right at me. I just barely deflected it and ducked to the side. Then he slashed at my head. I managed to block it and then land a sloppy kick to his leg. It didn't do much except almost send us both falling to the ground. As soon as I regained my balance, I stepped in with a slash aimed for his shoulder, but he blocked it effortlessly before slamming his knee into my stomach. The pain was dull and suffocating. Gasping, I stumbled backwards, gripping my sword even tighter to make sure he didn't knock it out of my hands. He didn't even try to, but only stood there looking smug as Rizelle gushed out a "You're so amazing!"

"Come on, Chrono! You're not out yet!" I heard Rosette call.

I wasn't really listening as my eyes never left Aion, taking in everything from his annoying smirk to his relaxed grip on his sword. I didn't know whether I was nervous or excited. He obviously wasn't even trying to win this fight while I was giving it everything I had. He was part demon and I was just…Chrono.

"Already out of the game, C-man?" he sneered.

I didn't answer but once I managed to catch some of my breath, I straightened up and readied my sword. Even though he didn't show it, I think I surprised him.

This time, I attacked first and swung at his ribs. He jumped back, caught off guard, and nearly lost his balance. I took that moment to ram into his chest with my shoulder, which knocked him flat on the ground with a dull _thud_.His sword skidded out of his grip. He stared up at me with a totally dumbfounded look on his face. For a split second, I thought I was dreaming. Nobody said anything, but I bet they were all just as shocked as I was.

"Already out of the game, Aion," I said finally, unable to help myself.

He scoffed in reply, but judging by the stiff scowl on his face, I had gotten under his skin. He got to his feet, scooping up his deactivated sword at the same time.

"I hate to break it to you, C-man, but you got lucky." He dusted himself off before flicking his wrist. "Don't even think this is over."

I only had time to hear him finish his last statement before he came at me again. This time, I was sure that he wasn't holding back any of his real strength. He raised his sword for an attack and at the last second, I jumped out of the way. I threw my body against him, hoping to knock him off balance again, but he saw it coming and tried to bat me away with his free arm; instead, his elbow bashed against my nose. A sharp pain shot through my head in a flash of white and it gave him enough time to painfully twist my arm and kick my feet from under me.

The ground was soft, covered in leaves and sandy dirt, so the wind wasn't completely knocked out of me but I was still dazed with the stars overhead separating into blurry doubles. The pain in my nose was only tingling, so I was pretty sure it wasn't broken. I still tasted blood and my sword wasn't in my hand anymore.

"Hey! He disarmed you first, you scum-brained cheater!" Rosette yelled at Aion. "You're out of the game!"

"She's right, Aion. You're taking this too far," Mary pressed, taking a bold step forward.

"Oh relax, you two. I'm just trying to keep things interesting," he scoffed, waiting for me to stand up. He acted as though he was totally in control and was only toying with me.

Surprisingly, Rosette didn't say anything else even though she was still glaring at him. Mary only fixed a disappointed look at his back.

I soon did bring myself upright even though I was almost scared to. At the same time, I felt my blood boiling. This wasn't about Flashlight Tag anymore—Aion was serious now. And I just wanted to rip that grin off his face. I picked up my sword again and got ready, staring him down with my hardest glare. Before either of us made a move, a guttural howl tore through the air.

Azmaria shrieked. We all froze on the spot.

Just a few steps away was a large, black hound the size of a full-grown mastiff and covered in dark flames that charred its fur and the ground where it stood, but left everything else untouched. It smelled like rotten fish with burnt popcorn sprinkled on top. With a final bare of its fangs, the monster leapt towards us.

"Move!" Rosette shouted.

Aion only stared at it in complete shock before ducking out of its way. Joshua dove to one side while Rosette grabbed Azmaria and started to run out of its path. But it had decided to go after the two of them instead.

I don't remember my body moving or even my brain sending it the message to, but the monster was only a foot away from sinking its teeth into Azmaria's neck when I swung my sword and managed to slice through its shoulder. There was no blood, but black wisp leaking out of the wound. The monster jerked in surprise before snapping its head towards me, bright blue eyes glinting furiously. The next thing I knew, its chipped and jagged claws raked across my ribs in one swift movement. I staggered back, feeling weird as I saw a warm, red stain seep through my shredded shirt. I heard a loud cry and looked up to see Aion stab the monster right in its side. For a moment, it looked confused.

"Finish it, Chrono!" he yelled.

Without thinking, I raised my sword again—my fingers feeling too weak to close around the hilt properly—and stabbed the monster through the neck. I let my sword go as the creature fell over, dead. We all stared at it, torn between fear and fascination at the sight of its motionless body.

"Is everyone ok?" Aion called.

I think I said I was. I know everybody else did…except for one person.

We looked around when we realized this. And then we figured it out. Mary was gone.

* * *

**A/N:** _Finished! I'm not all that sure about the whole Flashlight Tag scene, but I was having trouble finding the balance between enough details and keeping things short and simple so the chapter didn't end up being twenty pages or whatever. Anyway, it took a while, but things are going to start picking up pace soon. Why do I have the feeling I've said this before?_

_As always, constructive criticism and general suggestions are greatly appreciated. I mean that too. Shadow-chan's simple review and SageWritter's PM showed me how helpful reviews can be. Not just getting them, but giving them as well. If anyone's written something I haven't read/reviewed yet (not limited to the CC fandom), let me know and I'll be glad to return the favor. It's the least I can do since you've all been so great about reading this story and sending comments._

_Love and Peace!_


	7. Aftermath

Aaargh! It's been *censored* since I've updated! I'm really sorry about that, guys. I've been crazy busy with school and life in general. On top of that, whenever I kept coming back to this chapter, I kept feeling like there was something wrong with it, which would then lead me into groaning that the whole story was wrong. Eventually, I just told myself to suck it up and sit my ass down to get back to work. No, this story is not on hiatus. No, I haven't quit on it. Yes, here is Chapter 7.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Crusade, only a penchant for putting its characters through lots of crap.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**~Aftermath~**

What happened next passed in a blur for me. A loud, screeching whistle sounded throughout the forest and within seconds, several instructors—I don't really remember who—came running over to us just in time to see the monster evaporate into thin air.

"How…hellhound…everyone safe…Mary…missing…mess hall…"

That was all I heard before two blurry figures grabbed me by the arms and dragged me off. I remembered making it out of the forest, hearing shouts for help, and then falling asleep to the soft hum of violin strings. I didn't care when or if I would wake up.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Have you ever had that really annoying feeling where you wake up, but then realize that you're actually still dreaming? That was happening to me. Or I must've woken up several times in the past few hours, feeling groggier and sicker each time.

But when I was asleep I dreamt that I was standing at a crossroads. One path led to the beach and the other led to a huge, golden birdcage hovering over a bottomless pit. Mary sat inside the cage. Without warning, a large hand shot up and grabbed her like she was nothing more than a fly and dragged her down into nothingness. I ran after her, calling for her to come back. I came to the edge of the pit and the hand grew smaller and smaller. I jumped in only to be met with blinding sunlight. Except this time, my eyes were opened for good and Rosette stood over me.

"You snore worse than my grandma after she's taken her meds," was the first thing she said to me before shoving a glass of water into my hands. It took all of my strength to keep my shaky fingers closed around it.

I was propped up in one of the sickbeds in the infirmary with a pillow behind my neck. My entire midriff was tightly wrapped like a corset. Other than that, my body was stiff and I really wanted to go back to sleep. Mr. Remington, Azmaria, and Joshua were here too, looking more relieved than Rosette.

"It's good to see you're finally awake, Chrono," Mr. Remington said, peering at me closely.

"How long have I been out?" I croaked. My throat felt scratchy. "What about Mary? And the hellhound? I thought—"

"Please calm down. You've been through a lot and you're in pretty bad shape"—he nodded at my bandages. "Even though Nurse Feather has impeccable healing abilities, your injuries are still serious. Of course, you seem to be healing fairly quickly."

I guess he was trying to make me feel better, but it only made me even more anxious. How could I relax after nearly getting killed _again_? And Mary…I tried not to think about it, especially since everyone was watching me carefully now. Then Azmaria spoke up.

"Chrono, you…you were really brave for saving us."

"Yeah, that was really cool of you," Joshua added quickly.

I found myself at a loss for words even though I was mentally arguing that I hadn't done it on purpose and that my body had acted on its own. I soon mumbled a "no big deal," deciding that it wouldn't have been smart to say anything else. On impulse, I stole a glance at Rosette who was making a point to ignore me. I wasn't sure if I was grateful or slightly annoyed by this. Sure, I had saved her so she could be a _little_ grateful, but at the same time I felt like anything but a hero.

"I know you must be tired, Chrono," Mr. Remington began. "But I would very much appreciate it if you could recount your version of the incident regarding the hellhound."

The four of us stooped our heads low, not meeting each others' eyes. Now that we were together again, it seemed to make that whole incident even more of a nightmare come true. I tried not to squirm under his stern gaze. At the same time, I could almost make out a hint of sympathy behind it.

"Do you know what happened to Mary?" I replied instead. "When are you going to start looking for her?"

He held up a hand. "I know that you and Ms. Magdalene were friends and I understand your concern for her, but I need you to tell me what happened, Chrono. Hearing all sides of the story will help us figure out where to start looking." The look on his face told me that he wouldn't hear anything else I had to say.

I swallowed my frustration and told him everything. It wasn't a long story, but my mouth was dry by the time I finished. The silence was heavy for a moment and I took an awkward sip of my water to somehow escape it.

"Is that everything?" Mr. Remington asked, sitting on the edge of his seat. "Did you notice anything strange before that? Even a small detail?"

_You mean other than the fact that a bunch of teenagers were running around with weapons in a forest where demons could jump out at you at anytime? _I thought. But I only shook my head.

That was when I remembered sitting across from Mary in the library. Just thinking about the look that had been in her eyes that afternoon made me feel worse.

"What can you tell us?" I asked abruptly.

I knew I was probably overstepping my bounds at this point and even Rosette looked like she wanted to kick me for using that kind of tone. But I had the nagging feeling that there was something he wasn't saying. He seemed to be in the middle of a silent debate with his hands before he finally looked back at me.

"I suppose you all have a right to know," he said. "Mary had spiritual powers. We—that is, Sister Kate and I—believe she was taken by a demon."

"Ok…" Joshua said slowly.

"More specifically, she could see the future." Mr. Remington gave us a second to let that sink in. "And she knew this would happen."

_But she couldn't have known_, I told myself. I was hearing things. It was impossible. But then again everything I've been through so far this summer should've been impossible too.

"B-but how could—? Why would she—?" I didn't even know what I was trying to say anymore.

I looked at the others only to see that they were just as confused as I was. Rosette was the first one to open her mouth.

"So then why the heck would she put herself in danger like that?"

It was a good question and we all watched Mr. Remington carefully choose his words in his head before replying,

"It was our fault for letting her go out there. This was her first game of Flashlight Tag since she came to Magdalan and she was insistent on participating this year. I stupidly believed that the Geas would be strong enough to keep her safe, but now…" He trailed off.

I immediately remembered the confidence Mr. Remington had in his voice when he first explained what the Geas was to me. I tried to hold onto it to ease my own worries, but it felt like nothing more than a distant memory. Now the only safest place from demons wasn't safe anymore.

"So what are you going to do?" I dared to ask. "Do her parents know anything?"

The way he nodded made it obvious that the news was only going to get worse.

"We've alerted the police and they've started a nationwide search. As for her parents, we had to alert them. Of course, they don't know the true nature of her kidnapping, but…"

"But what?" Azmaria nearly whispered.

"If nothing is done or there are no signs of Mary by July fourth, we may have to close down Magdalan."

I felt like I'd just been slapped in the face and I was pretty sure the others felt the same way.

"Why?" Joshua cried.

Mr. Remington let out a heavy sigh. "The Council won't have any other choice, I'm afraid. They've been discussing this and the issue with Mary's parents"—he stopped himself quickly and we knew why.

I'd only heard about the Council a few times while I was here and all I knew was that they were basically a secretive group who created this camp and another one in the west. They only got involved if things were really bad. The instructors weren't allowed to tell us anything about them.

"Anyway, let's not worry about it anymore, ok? Sister Kate wouldn't be particularly pleased if she found out I was telling you this," Mr. Remington stated, rubbing his neck. His face showed that he could already picture her yelling at him with murder in her eyes.

I couldn't believe him. First, he dumps all of that bad news on us and then expects us to just forget about it. I'd only been here a week, but already this place was starting to feel like a second home to me. Someone had to do something other than sit around in Sister Kate's office. Before my thoughts went any farther, he stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt.

"Well, Chrono, I really think we ought to let you get some rest."

The others gave me one last look before going to follow him. But then Rosette turned back to face me, our eyes meeting for the first time.

"Look, Fur—Chrono, I…"

She trailed off as if waiting to make sure no one was spying on us. I waited, ready to hear what she had to say.

She exhaled. "I just wanted to say…thanks for…y'know, what Azmaria said about saving us. It took serious guts"—a small grin turned up—"or a serious lack of brains." Then she spun around and took off without a second glance.

Once I got over the initial shock that she had really just thanked me, I noticed that the others seemed just a dumbfounded as I was. Joshua pretty much looked ready to faint as his mouth dangled open. Azmaria only stared at the door like she'd just seen a ghost. Only Mr. Remington let his face break into a smile before he winked at me. Gently, he ushered the two into the hallway, leaving me to wonder if I really was dreaming after all. But soon I found myself starting to feel a little bit better.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Mr. Remington had been right about me healing quickly and I was finally let out of the infirmary Monday night.

There was a definite gloom hanging over the camp for the next couple of days. The incident with the hellhound had really scared everybody and even the instructors seemed to be on edge.

I kept hearing all these things about weekend field trips being cancelled and campers wanting to go home. I couldn't help but feel like this was somehow all my fault.

The other campers avoided me at all costs, but I always felt their eyes on me. By now, they were totally convinced that I was nothing more than demon bait. It was like they wanted to glare at me, but also wanted to pretend I didn't exist. I felt an insect under a magnifying glass. Even Satella and Mike seemed to be doing their best not to notice me whenever I passed by them.

And once it got around what I did to the hellhound, no one wanted to have sword-fighting with me. With Mr. Remington always in Sister Kate's office, I was left to train with Darryl one-on-one. While he was a tough teacher, pushing me hard in each lesson, he seemed to be keeping his distance like he was expecting me to unleash some secret attack on him if he wasn't careful. And every time I left, I could feel his dark eyes watching my back. I half-wondered if Mr. Remington had told him to keep an eye on me. After another dose of this on Wednesday, I made my way to the library to get away from the dark looks I should've been used to by now.

To keep the librarian from snapping at me about loitering, I grabbed a random romance-comedy novel and looked for a place to sit. That was when I spotted Shader sitting alone at a table in the far back. I felt my throat tighten when it settled in my brain that Mary wasn't right beside her. I hadn't seen her since Friday, so I slowly went over to her.

"Hey."

Her head slowly rose away from the book she'd been staring into and her pink-rimmed eyes met mine. For a second, I thought I'd talked to the wrong person. This couldn't have been Shader. There was no smile or any sign of the energy she'd always seemed to have. But it was her and she invited me to sit down with a forced smile.

The next thing I knew, I blurted,

"I'm sorry."

She frowned, genuinely confused. "For what?" she asked.

I swallowed. "About Mary…I guess."

I didn't even know why I apologized. Every time I wondered if it really was my fault that Mary was gone, a small voice in the back of my mind kept reminding myself that I couldn't have known what would happen. I didn't know which part of me to believe, so I always forced myself to think about something else.

Shader shook her head sadly. "It's not your fault, Chrono. I mean…Mary really liked you and—"

"But her powers…" I had to stop myself before I said something else incredibly stupid.

Shader seemed to perk up at that and I could only shrug, sending the silent message that I knew about them. I could tell she wanted to ask me how, but she decided not to. She gingerly closed her book, her thoughts drifting away.

"We knew about them—Aion, Rizelle, and I," she said absently.

"So, you knew this would happen too?" My tone came out more accusing than I meant. I couldn't help it—I just wanted to find out what was going on.

Shader flinched while giving me a shocked look. "Wh-what do you mean?"

I took a deep breath and told her what Mr. Remington had said a few days ago. By then, I could've kicked myself at the look that crossed her face. Tears were already gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"If I…we'd known, we wouldn't have bothered her so much about it…" She trailed off to wipe her nose.

"About what?" I asked.

"We kept begging her to join us in Flashlight Tag. She never wanted to before and she never said why, but…Aion started trying to change her mind first, and then Rizelle and I joined in. We just didn't want to leave her alone every Friday anymore"—she choked back a sob and wiped away her tears before they fell.

I didn't know what to say to make her feel better so I silently waited until she calmed down. When she did, she stared at her hands as she quietly asked me,

"Do you think she's ok?"

I hesitated before answering. "Yeah, I do."

And I meant it. Somehow, I think I would've gotten some kind of vibe if Mary was hurt.

Shader smiled at me. It was small, but I felt much better seeing it. "Thanks, Chrono. I believe you."

Hearing her say that made me feel relieved despite the brief memory of that weird dream I'd had back in the infirmary.

"And Chrono?" She stood up, her book tucked under her arm.

"Yeah?"

She glanced left and right before leaning in a little closer to me. "If you see Aion, would you mind making sure he's ok? He's been acting weird and skipping out on activities," she said.

I spent only a second being surprised before I realized that she was right. I hadn't seen Aion at all since Friday. _Who cares?_ Was my first thought, but meeting Shader's pleading gaze, I found myself nodding slowly.

She smiled. "Thanks. Rizelle's been worried sick about him and I kinda am too."

"Yeah, no problem."

**XxXxXxXxX**

It was Aion who found me and, like Shader, I almost didn't recognize him. His face and shoulders sagged and his bloodshot eyes were almost hidden behind disheveled hair. There was a strange edge in his tone when he spoke, as if he were choosing his words carefully.

"Alive after all?"

Some of his usual sneer crept into the simple question, which made me feel less sorry for him. A little voice in my head reminded me that this was the same guy who'd convinced Mary to put herself in danger.

"What do you want?" I snarled. As soon as the words left my mouth, I had the strong urge to punch him.

It was his fault that Mary was kidnapped—that the camp was going to close down. It was his fault that I felt totally useless to do anything about any of this. I secretly hoped for him to give me a reason to stop holding myself back. Just one of his cocky grins would be all I needed. Much to my surprise, he gave me an equally dark look and stepped forward.

"Look, spare me the hostile attitude, all right? If this is about our fight on Friday, then—"

"It's your fault she's gone!" I nearly shouted.

The campers who were heading to their next activities stopped and watched us. Aion's face started to fall again and he obviously wanted to defend himself, but nothing came out. He seemed to shrink under all the looks. It suddenly reminded me of how I'd been feeling since Monday. All the anger swirling around in my stomach evaporated and I lost the strength to keep my fists clenched.

"Oi! What're you all standing around here for?" The stern voice belonged to Storm Valerie.

He had short-cropped, silver hair and a tattoo of a cross on the bridge of his nose. He was the only instructor who proudly wore ripped jeans and shirts with sayings like: "Practice safe lunch. Use a condiment."

But instead of his usually slouched shoulders and carefree face, he was marching through the crowded hall like a drill sergeant. No one waited to be told twice and scrambled off, immediately forgetting about Aion and me.

Storm's eyes fixed on Aion, already assuming that he was the one causing all the trouble. "And what about you two?"

Aion and I exchanged quick glances.

"Elder's," he said quickly before taking off without another word.

So I followed after him, not letting myself meet his eyes or look over my shoulder to see if Storm was still there.

Once we were outside, Aion spun around to face me.

"There's something I need to show you," he announced.

That definitely caught me off guard. "What?"

"Remember that favor I wanted on Friday?"

I nodded slowly, trying to figure out what that had to do with anything. And, more importantly, why he wanted me, even after all the teasing and the fights, to do it for him. He could've easily bullied someone else into doing whatever he wanted.

"What about it?" I asked indifferently.

"Come with me and you'll find out."

**XxXxXxXxX**

Against all the alarms going off in my mind and overall common sense, I stepped into Aion's room back in the boys' dormitory. It was simple and showed clear signs of being lived in. There weren't any kind of rock band posters like in Mike's room, no suitcases scattered all over the floor like Joshua's, and no stacks of letters from home like everyone else's. Sure his bed wasn't made and there were a few things like books, a few pictures of him, Mary, Shader, and Rizelle, and random objects you might buy at a souvenir shop, but other than that I was sure that he lived at Magdalan 24/7 with no chance of ever leaving.

"Right here," Aion said, jolting me out of my thoughts.

He grabbed a something from his desk and handed it over to me. It was a sheet of worn parchment with a bunch of runes written all over it. For a second, I thought it was the same one Mr. Remington had slipped into my homework long ago, but when the symbols rearranged themselves right in front of me, I realized it was different. Before I knew it, I was reading the story.

_During the Days of Old, the Mother spent many moments uncertain of her own future. She had lived many centuries, but each one brought her closer to her unknown demise._

_She soon began to envy the unicorns who roamed the fields and forests. There were so few, but they were destined to live forever as long as they kept their horns. And so they grazed, slept, and lived without a single care or worry._

_Desperate to gain their immortality, the Mother confronted them and said:_

_You must tell me the secrets of your magic. I wish to live forever for I have much I want to accomplish._

_But the unicorns all laughed at her and haughtily replied:_

_We will tell you nothing. What tasks warrant such a demand? There will always be enough time in this world to do things, so there is no need to rush._

_The Mother grew angry at their ignorance. The unicorns thought nothing of their precious gift yet they selfishly kept it for themselves and mocked the creatures of limited lifespan. The Mother continued to ask for their secrets, but they would tell her nothing._

_Eventually, she gave up and left to devise a plan to convince the vain creatures to tell her what she wanted. She came the shores of Peaceful Waters, where her feet left deep imprints in the sand, and thought long and hard. Soon, she had an idea. Without a moment's hesitation, she fell to her knees and began to dig through the sand. She dug and dug until she reached a layer of ground filled with clay. She gathered as much as she could and began to mold her own horns._

_When she finished, she fixed the horns on her head and went back to the unicorns the next day. They were grazing yet again and did not see her immediately._

_She called to them: Will you share your secrets with me?_

_The stupid beasts, having already forgotten her, raised their heads and prepared to refuse whoever dared to bother them, but stopped when they saw her new horns._

_One exclaimed: You are one of us!_

_Another agreed: Why, we had no idea there were others besides us!_

_And they all gathered around to admire her horns. Convinced that the Mother belonged to their species, they told her the secrets of their magic. One by one, they touched their horns to hers to welcome her amongst them. It was then that the Mother felt the Astral Line flow into her body and course through her veins like a calm river. It was then that her horns became permanent and as long as she had them, she would never die._

"And they all lived happily ever after," Aion scoffed, breaking the trance I'd been in. "Come on, man, that can't be what it says."

"Look," I snapped back, though not completely sure why I was feeling annoyed all of a sudden. "You wanted me to translate it and I did."

I put the parchment back on the desk to somehow get rid of the overwhelming feeling coming over me. I felt like I had just taken a ten-hour exam. Aion sighed in exasperation, but I think it was more because of the story than me. He buried his head in his hands, hunched over and looking more and more like a scared kid than the haughty jerk I was used to.

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable with this, I finally asked,

"Why is this such a big deal to you anyway?"

He looked up at me silently for a moment, his face almost grave with an expression I couldn't really place. Disappointment, maybe? Or regret?

"You wanna know the truth?" he answered. Half of me didn't, but I nodded anyway. He sat up straighter. "I thought there would've been something written there to help find Mary."

I definitely hadn't expected to hear that.

"I'm surprised you"—I stopped myself, realizing what I was about to say, but Aion caught on.

"Surprised about what? That I actually care about my friends?"

He shot to his feet so fast that I thought he was going to hit me. Instead, he was giving me a hard look with his hands clenched at his side.

"Well, you're right, I do. Mary was the first person here who didn't treat me like a freak and I don't feel like pretending everything's going to be fine just because Sister Kate or Remington say so."

I was actually surprised by his tone. I'd never seen him like this before. But for one scary moment, I actually agreed with him. Worse yet, I'd been thinking the exact same thing.

"Sorry," I admitted, looking away. "That was going too far,"

He gave a stiff shrug and slumped back in his chair. He yanked up the parchment again and examined it like he was looking for any other kind of clue or sign of hope. He eventually flung it away with a frustrated sigh.

"I don't understand any of this shit!" he yelled.

He kicked the edge of his bed with a hollow _fwump_! and then fell quiet, deep in his thoughts. I looked at the parchment again, trying to figure out what it all meant. Of course, I doubted a story about a bunch of stupid unicorns and peace-loving water or whatever could help us find Mary.

"I don't understand any of this," I heard Aion mutter to himself, his tone a little calmer. "But maybe…I know someone who does."

I perked up at that. "Who?"

He rubbed his neck as though he was still debating whether or not he should keeping thinking about it. Growing impatient, I asked again to get his attention. The look in his eyes was torn between excitement and suspicion.

"It's a bit of a stretch, but there's this…guy…in one of Sister Kate's files and he _knows_ things," he said finally.

"I don't get it. Is he like Mary?"

"Kind of. He's called the Keeper and he supposedly lives in the basement of the Empire State Building—"

"What kind of person does that?" For a second, I thought Aion was joking, but his face was totally serious.

"Well, I wouldn't call him a person," he began mildly. "He's more of a…demon."

_No way!_ I wanted to scream. I'd gotten acquainted with more demons than I wanted to and I wasn't up to meeting another one. How could he say it so casually like we were being invited to a tea party? A really twisted tea party.

_But Mary…_

My stomach lurched and I remembered my conversation with Shader.

"_Do you think she's ok?"_

"_Yeah, I do."_

"_Thanks, Chrono. I believe you."_

Now, I felt really stupid for answering her. I'd been so sure at the time, but I really had no way of knowing—vibes or no vibes. What if I was wrong? I flinched at the thought, only hoping that I wasn't.

"Why hasn't anyone done something about this Keeper guy if they know where he is?" I asked.

Aion shrugged. "Because he doesn't do anything. He doesn't attack people or consume any spiritual energy, so he's probably going to die soon anyway."

"And you think he can help us?"

At this Aion gave me an amused look that already made him look like his old self. I was even getting irritated just looking at him.

"_Us_, C-man?" He let the question roll off his tongue the same way my dad commented on an expensive wine he just bought. "Are we best buddies now? I thought you wanted to let the adults take care of everything?"

"Look, Mary's my friend too," I said through gritted teeth. "Either you want my help or not."

He spent a whole minute pretending to think hard and just when I was about to lose my cool and snap at him, he stuck his hand out to me.

"I'll let you tag along, Chrono," he said, smiling.

But it was a genuine smile. No cockiness or sneer behind it.

I know. I couldn't believe it either.

We shook hands.

* * *

Yes! Finished it! I've got a lot of ideas for the rest of the plot that I've been kicking around, so I just need to pick one and to keep writing. Any suggestions are totally welcome! Again, I'm really sorry about the long delay.


	8. Things Get Complicated

A/N: _And here's the long-overdue Chapter Eight. I'm really sorry that it took me this long to post something. Life's been crazy and I've got another story I'm working on too. I also want to apologize if this chapter reads weirdly, because I'm pretty rusty. Still, I hope it's worth the wait, but do leave constructive criticism if you are confused about anything. Thank you all for your patience. And Father Deckard is a character from the manga (Vol. 5)._

_To GarlicBred, I love you and your flames._

_And to GreekGreek, no, there won't be any gods in this._

Disclaimer: I don't Chrono Crusade, only a bad habit of procrastination.

**Chapter Eight**

**~In Which Things Get A Lot More Complicated~**

We were leaving tonight.

I could see a wild excitement burning in Aion's eyes as he explained that we'd meet after lights out and he'd have our weapons ready. When I asked him how he would get his hands on them, he just gave me a strange grin and said,

"Seriously, man, it would be pretty stupid if I lived here my whole life and didn't know how to break into the armory by now."

The plan was simple: we'd sneak out, go see the Keeper, and then…

Well, we hadn't figured that part out yet.

I don't know how I managed to get through the rest of the day normally, pretending that I wasn't about to throw myself into danger in only a few more hours. A hundred thoughts raced through my mind at once: what would I need to pack? How long would we be gone? Was this even a good idea?

Yet I found myself digging through my suitcase before dinner, throwing a change of clothes and a handful of toiletries into my backpack. I eventually found an envelope filled with a stack of money and a note from my mom, telling me to spend it in any way I wanted.

For a second, I didn't care about anything other than going home…back to my normal life. I'd actually take high school over a demon's lair any day. But at the same time, something else was telling me that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, especially if we didn't save Mary. I stared at the note for as long as I could, trying to ignore the world around me for just a little while longer. It was only when I read the last lines again it hit me.

_And don't forget what we talked about. I know you aren't as crazy about all that magic stuff as I am, but I hope it will help you in some way._

_Love,_

_Mom_

My tarot cards!

My first thought was that there was no way this could have anything to do with them, but somehow it all made sense. What had my mom told me?

_You__ will meet someone…but they will need your help._ Check and check.

It all pointed to Mary and everything that had happened so far. But still…it was my destiny to save her? I actually wished I had some tarot cards on me right then so I could see if there was any good news to find.

The other Crusaders must've sensed that something was bothering me at dinner because Azmaria asked me at least hundred times if I was ok while Rosette and Joshua were giving me weird looks every now and then. It took all of my willpower not to look over at Aion to see if he was going to give me a signal that our plan was still in motion, or even to see if he looked as anxious as I did. Instead, I watched the instructors huddling close together over their food and talking in low voices. Mr. Remington and Sister Kate looked particularly grave about something they were explaining to the others.

The bonfire was cancelled that night and I was almost glad about it given how tense things were. At the same time, it showed how serious the whole situation was.

Just when I thought that the hours leading up to nighttime had been torturous and drawn out, I quickly found out that waiting in the night was just as bad. As the time dragged by, I laid on my bed, staring up at the ceiling for a little while. And then I would make sure I had packed everything I needed. And then I would sit by the door, jumping at every sound I heard and holding my breath when I thought it was coming closer to my door. Nothing. No one came.

Where the heck was he? I looked at my clock; it blinked 3:00AM—way past the time we were supposed to meet.

_Maybe he lied._

That thought had been sitting in the back of my mind since lights out.

Unable to wait any longer, I gently opened the door and crept into the dark hallway. The floors creaked with every step I took as I turned a corner and started up the stairs. As soon as I made it to the next floor, I heard voices bouncing off the walls. I froze, straining my ears to make out what they were saying.

"Hold 'im still…damn...Gotta…quiet." They were hushed and frantic.

Then the doorknob started rattling. My breath caught in my throat as I desperately searched the darkness for the closest hiding spot—the bathroom—and ducked inside.

After flicking the lights off, I pressed my back against the door just as heavy footsteps and voices became louder, echoing in the corridor.

"Come on, you idiots!" hissed a gruff voice. "Hold 'im tight and hurry up!"

"We're trying, sir, but he's putting up quite the fight," argued a second voice, sounding strained and frustrated.

"Argh! Let me go, you bastards!"

I felt a sickening wrench in my stomach at this. That was Aion.

The first voice muttered something before I heard a sudden _oomph!_ followed by a few snickers.

"Take that, half-breed freak," the first voice spat. "I'm sure Father Deckard will be interested to know we caught you red-handed trying to run away. Now, get going!"

Eventually, the voices faded further down the hallway. I waited for a second before cracking the door open. I just had time to look up at the shadow blocking my way before a rough hand burst through and yanked me out. The wind rushed out of me when I was slammed against the wall.

"So there _was_ a little spy here," said the shadow, moving closer to me.

It was the first voice that I'd heard seconds ago and its owner had a chiseled chin and sharp eyes that stared me down in a way that I was almost afraid to meet them.

"Get off me, you"—his other hand clamped over my mouth so tightly I had to start breathing through my nose.

"Hey, kid. Forget what you saw and get back to your room," he said calmly. "Or should I take you in along with your friend?"

I couldn't have answered him anyway as breathing was becoming harder, but that seemed to be enough for him since he took his hand off my mouth at last. He didn't release his hold on my shirt, though, and started dragging me back towards the stairs.

"What're you going to do with him?" I asked, struggling against his strength.

Despite having killed a hellhound I was no match for this guy's bare hands which had no problem holding onto me or giving me a harsh smack against my ear.

"Shut up! That's none of your business."

I had left my door open and he shoved me inside, and closed it with a soft click. Once my head stopped ringing, I stumbled over and turned the lock—just in case he decided to come back. For the first time, I realized my heart was pounding hard against my chest. I took a few deep, steadying breaths, but it hardly did any good. And that sick feeling was still swirling around inside me. What were they going to do with Aion?

We hadn't even left camp yet and already our plan was already falling apart. Time was running out.

**XxXxXxXxX**

I couldn't remember falling asleep or even dreaming about anything until I heard someone calling my name. The voice slowly got louder and was joined by several knocks to my door.

"Chrono, man, get up! Unlock the door!"

Bleary-eyed, I sat up, but didn't move right away in case it was that guy from last night.

"Chrono! Come on!" No, it was Mike.

I stumbled over and unlocked the door, just barely moving my head out of the way in time when his fist came down for another knock.

"What is it?" I groaned. "What time is it?"

"You slept through breakfast," Mike answered, folding his arms across his chest. "You'd better hurry up and meet us all downstairs."

"Why?"

"Sister Kate and Mr. Remington want the whole camp to go to the chapel for some announcement." That was all he said before walking off.

Only a minute later was I following him across the lawn—past the empty sword-fighting pit and the metal workshop, which also looked as lonely with its lights off and no smoke pouring out of the chimney from the hearth's blazing fire—to join the flood of campers going into the chapel. No one said a word as we all found seats in the pews. I was relieved when Azmaria waved me over to the empty spot between her and Rosette, sparing me from having to see the suspicious glares from anyone I would've tried to sit next to.

"What's going on?" I whispered as quietly as I could.

A distant _sh!_ didn't give either of them a chance to answer me. Everything was still and everybody's face was solemn as they all looked forward in quiet anticipation. It was hard to believe that only a week ago we'd all been goofing off in here with amateur guitar music echoing off the walls and the instructors lounging around instead of standing at stiff attention on every side. They all stood next to strangely-dressed men and women who I'd only just noticed. The men and women wore matching dark blue uniforms with boots and guns strapped to their waists. Then they whipped their gloved hands from behind their backs in a snapping salute as an older man dressed just like a priest strode down the center aisle. He had a broad, wrinkled face with his thick chin tilted into the air and his shoulders squared like the people saluting him, practically flaunting his intimidating aura which lingered behind even after he made it to the altar where he turned to face us.

"Hello, Magdalan campers. It's very good to see you all." He smiled when he spoke and it twisted his face in a weird way, like he wasn't used to doing it that often. "I am Father Deckard and I want to assure you that I am here with your safety as my primary concern."

He spoke slowly as if we were a bunch of kindergarteners and the words oozed out of his mouth like wet cement.

"I'm sure that, in light of recent…events, you are all feeling very scared. I ask you to lay your fears to rest because I and my team of militia are here to get to the bottom of things," he continued, looking around and trying to meet every camper's eyes from behind his large glasses.

"I will not hesitate to inform you all as progress is made and questions are answered. Let me start by informing you that we have detained a certain suspected half-demon and will begin a _thorough_ interrogation very soon."

His voice turned hard and a cold feeling washed over me like ice water so now I was giving Deckard my full attention. Even with the glare in his glasses, I could see the look on his face that the other kids always reserved for Aion. Only his was scarier. I wouldn't go so far to say that I felt sorry for Aion or anything, but from the edge in this guy's voice, I didn't even want to imagine what kind of "thorough interrogation" he was planning.

"At least something's being done," I heard Rosette mutter.

I turned to glare at her, but she refused to meet my eyes.

"How can you even say that?" I hissed, which made her turn to me.

"What's your problem?" she said angrily.

"There's no evidence that he did any"—a hoarse cough cut me off.

We looked to the front and saw Father Deckard standing there silently with his eyes fixed right on us. The rest of the chapel echoed silence. We both quickly lowered our heads and didn't say anything as he went on about he and his men were here to protect us and that they would be the face of calm and hope for Mary's safe return. Despite this, the stoic militiamen who would be stationed at nearly every corner of camp didn't make anyone feel any safer. It only made the harsh reality of the situation even scarier. Even if no one else knew that Magdalan was only days away from being shut down, they must've realized that something worse was going on beneath the surface of Deckard's pep talk.

"You are all dismissed. Have a wonderful day," the old priest finished.

We all got to our feet and I kept ignoring Rosette as my head pounded in my ears. I didn't care about anything he had said and felt my body itching with impatience. We couldn't just sit around and hope that Mary would show up and ring the front doorbell tomorrow morning.

"Hey, just quit sulking, will you?" Rosette snapped at me. "Once they figure out what Aion did—"

"Chrono!"

I turned around and saw Shader and Rizelle pushing their way through the moving crowd.

I went to meet them halfway. "What is it?"

Shader's face still looked pale and drawn with anxiety, but her eyes seemed more alive than they had been before. Rizelle seemed to be in the same state and I wondered if she even realized how badly her makeup was smeared. Then, out of nowhere, Shader grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in close to her body.

"Wh-Whoa! What're you—"

"We know where they're keeping Aion," she whispered into my ear. "Meet us tonight behind the mess hall. We're going to bail him out."

I turned to give her a surprised look, but she pushed me forward so I was swallowed in the crowd and couldn't find either of them again. When I stepped outside, everyone went off to do activities and I tried to figure out what to do with myself next.

A hand grabbed my shoulder—I spun around and met Mr. Remington's solemn blue eyes.

"Chrono," he said simply, "come with me. Father Deckard wants to speak with you."

_Oh great_, was all I could think.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Mr. Remington didn't say a word to me as he led me down the hallways and up the stairs to Sister Kate's office. It was total déjà vu.

He knocked on the door where a quiet, stern "come in" followed. Strangely, though, before he turned the doorknob, he reached over and firmly squeezed my shoulder. Confused, I look at him, but he didn't meet my eyes—his face expressionless.

As quickly as it happened, he took his hand away and pushed the door open.

"Father, this is Chrono Furey. The young man you asked to see."

Again, Deckard tried for one of his crooked smiles as he folded his thickly-veined hands on Sister Kate's desk. He had his white robe slung over the back of the leather chair, which left him in his black tunic buttoned all the way to his neck.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Furey, do have a seat," he offered, gesturing to the single chair in front of his desk.

I slowly approached while Mr. Remington stayed by the door. I wondered how he felt watching this guy sit in Sister Kate's chair like he was a king on his throne.

"Would you like some tea, Mr. Furey?" Deckard said.

The tray holding the China tea set sat innocently beside him. I glanced at it before shaking my head.

"No, I'm fine…sir." I didn't want anything from this guy anywhere near my mouth.

His gaze hardened, looking almost offended. "Then perhaps you can describe to me exactly what happened when Mary Magdalene disappeared."

So I did and by the time I was done, I wanted to scream at the almost-bored look on his face.

"And that is all you remember?" he asked slowly.

"Yes."

"Yes, _sir_._" _His dark eyes narrowed at me. "Very well, then, Mr. Furey. Your account of this event only confirms the evidence that the half-demon was indeed present, which makes it even more clear that he is responsible—"

"What evidence?" I blurted.

Deckard sneered at me like I was a speck of mud on his robes. "Watch your tone, boy. He's a half-demon, that's all we need to know."

"But you don't have any real—"

"Silence!" He pounded his fist on the table in one, loud strike.

"Don't talk about things over your head, little boy," he warned me in an even tone. "I _know_ you went to check on your half-breed friend, who happened to be trying to escape if my militia hadn't caught him. You are in dangerous waters now, so I would advise you _not_ to try my goodwill. Or should I have you detained under suspicion of being an accomplice?"

I sat back a little in my chair even though my head was pounding with anger. I must've been out of my mind, practically defending Aion, but I knew Deckard was wrong. Aion had been trying to do more for Mary than this old geezer had.

Deckard looked satisfied with my silence and took a deep breath. "That is all I need from you, Mr. Furey. Do keep in mind that I've got my eye on you from now on, so don't try anything…foolish."

**XxXxXxXxX**

Night came again.

I waited at least thirty minutes after the boys' dorms were completely dark before I dared to leave my room for the second night in a row.

I crept down the stairs to the entrance only to quickly roll out of sight when a flashlight glared through the window. Night patrol.

They had to be near the end of their second rotation by now. I'd spent the day observing their shift changes, trying to find a rhythm. They were like a bunch of robots, changing guards at the same time in every corner of campus. I stayed in my hiding spot, checking my watch impatiently as the minutes dragged by.

Soon, the flashlights from outside flicked off and the militiamen marched off to their next post. I had five minutes.

My legs were already propelling me into the breezy nighttime air before my brain had even sent the command to go. My adrenaline was slowly building and pumping through my veins as I got closer to the back of the girls' dorms. I didn't even bother stopping to catch my breath or to make sure no one was coming. If I did, I'd lose what little bravery I had left.

The mess hall was finally coming up and I could barely make out two figures huddled there, one of them turning in my direction.

"_Chrono!_" Shader hissed when I dove to their feet.

My heart pounded in my ears as I nodded. They let me catch my breath before I pushed myself into the same low position as them.

"We need to get to the main building from here," Rizelle whispered. "Aion's in one of the basement detainers." Then she looked right at me with her black eyeliner eyes that almost merged with the surrounding darkness. "Are you really going to help him?"

The question was so random and almost ridiculous that I didn't answer right off.

"Rizelle?" Shader began, but her friend held up a hand.

"Because I've seen the way you and your friends look at him. And you're all wrong. Aion isn't some monster, or—or…" A sob stopped her words and her hard gaze wavered with brimming tears.

I looked away as Shader gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Let's go," said Shader, "we've hardly got two minutes to get our butts to the main building."

That seemed to sober Rizelle up instantly and she was the first one on her feet. I then noticed that Shader had a backpack on her and gave her a strange look. She wasn't seriously thinking about—

"It's Aion's," she remarked, reading my expression. "Managed to grab it from his room before they could search through it."

**XxXxXxXxX**

There were more guards around the main building and we had a close call as Rizelle picked the lock to the side entrance, but fortunately, the guard turned away at the last minute.

With a click, we were inside and passing through the infirmary before Shader led us down the same hallway where Runes class was. She stopped in front of a large painting of the archangel Michael, who had a long staff in one hand and outstretched the other like he was reaching out to you. Shader pressed her own palm against his and whispered a quiet song,

"_Sayonara solitia…ashita e._"

Silently, the painting slid open like an elevator door, revealing a dark staircase that we could see no end to. Rizelle pulled a flashlight out of her back pocket and shined a beam of light into the looming darkness; she didn't even wait for us as she hurried down.

"Where does this go?" I asked Shader as we went after her.

"It's a holding chamber," she answered, almost bitterly. "More like a prison cell…"

I didn't have time to reply to her words before I heard my sneakers tapping against a white-tiled floor. The whole hallway was made up of white tiles that glowed faintly in the darkness as a strange, pale blue wall of light flickered at the far end. I recognized it immediately as the same light that came from the Principatus Cross Barrier that Mr. Gilliam had shown us in weaponry class. It was supposed to trap any demon in a particular spot long enough for a person to land a killing blow.

As we came closer, I saw a tall figure trapped behind the barrier and Rizelle ran over to it.

"Aion!" she cried.

I expected him to return her ogling gaze, but instead he was staring at me with an alarmed look.

"Chrono? What're you guys doing here?"

It was weird to hear him use my name for the second time, but I got over it to answer,

"We're going to go see this Keeper guy, aren't we?"

But his eyes only widened further. "Shut up!" he snapped suddenly, which definitely wasn't the kind of gratitude I'd been expecting. "_She's_ right behind you—"

"Aha! I knew it! I _knew_ you'd try something like this!"

My heart leapt into my throat as we all spun around to see the all-too-familiar form of Rosette step out of the shadows.

"You!" I blurted, jumping back. "Why are you here?"

She looked like Christmas had come early with the triumphant look on her face. This was so not good.

"To catch you in the act," she said smugly. "All I had to do was wait."

Rizelle was the first to get over her shock as she angrily stepped forward to meet the annoying blonde head-on.

"This has nothing to do with you," she spat, "get lost."

Rosette only folded her arms defiantly. "I could do that and go straight to Father Remington. Or…"As she trailed off, I noticed the backpack strapped to her back for the first time. She also had two gun holsters tied around the waist of her jeans. "I could come along."

"No way in hell!" Aion shouted, his voice echoing off the walls.

Shader and I looked at Rosette, who finally seemed about to lose her temper as she pushed past me to stand face-to-face with him—blue eyes meeting violet eyes in a clash.

"You can't tell me what to do, Aion," she said angrily. "If you don't let me come, I'm sure Father Deckard would love to hear about this secret meeting you guys are planning."

She looked over her shoulder and straight at me as she said that last part, but I saw flicker of fear in Aion's eyes and I knew that she had trapped us.

"Why d'you want to come?" I asked her. "And how did you know we would try this?"

"I saw you guys whispering back in the chapel," she said plainly, "and I know how much you miss your girlfriend." She smirked, but I knew she was trying to provoke me.

"But why do you care?" Rizelle snapped venomously. "This is none of your business as far as I'm concerned, Christopher."

Rosette scoffed. "Well, I don't _care_ where you're concerned. I'm not going to sit around and wait for Magdalan to close down, so if going with you two blockheads means I can do something to help, then I'll do it. And I don't want Mr. Remington to lose his job."

I almost rolled my eyes, completely unsurprised, but Rosette's words had effectively silenced any arguments from Shader and Rizelle who were looking completely dumbstruck.

"What do you mean by 'close down'?" Shader said in a small voice.

I decided to keep my mouth shut, unable to come up with anything clever enough to comfort her. And I didn't have it in me to lie with a fake smile like Father Deckard could.

"You are not coming, Blondie!" Aion argued, a little weakly this time.

"Just try and stop me."

Then for some reason, everybody's eyes fell on me, waiting. _Me?_

I could see it on Aion's, Shader's, and Rizelle's faces that they were begging me to get rid of Rosette somehow, but I knew that if I tried that, she would go through with her threat of telling Deckard. And her face was just daring me to argue, but I still couldn't help but wonder why she wanted to come along.

"Look…" I began finally. "This is going to be really dangerous."

"So?" At lightning speed, Rosette whipped out a gun and cocked it expertly. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed, if not a little scared.

I sighed and looked at Aion. "We might need an extra hand."

I could see the look of betrayal on his face, but I forced myself to remain determined. It wasn't like we had a choice anyway.

"Good boy, Furey," Rosette said.

I ignored the jibe and she put her gun away. A gentle hand touched my arm. I turned and saw Shader giving me a reassuring smile despite the uncertainty in her eyes. She then went over to kneel in front of one of the cross barriers, a tiny screwdriver in her hand. In a few seconds, she had taken off the cover and entered the disarming code on both of them and the glowing force-field disappeared for Aion to step out of.

"All right. Let's get out of here," he said, ignoring the kisses Rizelle was slobbering all over his cheek.

**XxXxXxXxX**

We left Shader and Rizelle behind and went down another dark corridor that had been behind a door close to the stairs. There was a tense silence between us.

"Good luck, Chrono. Don't let those two kill each other," Shader had said, pulling me into a quick hug.

I didn't know if I'd be able to keep that particular promise and could only pray this visit to the Keeper would be over quickly.

"We're here," Aion said. "The garage."

I looked around and saw all kinds of cars parked around us, even Mr. Remington's beat-up Aveo. Thankfully, there were no guards here. Aion jingled a set of keys.

"Where'd you get those?" I asked.

"Found 'em," he answered vaguely, though his mischievous grin said otherwise.

"And exactly whose car are we stealing?" Rosette demanded.

"Don't worry about that, Blondie. Let's just get out of here."

He pressed a button on the remote and a silver Volkswagen Jetta beeped as the back lights flashed.

"All right, Chrono, you wanna drive?" Aion asked, turning to me.

"Me?"

"No, I'll drive," Rosette said matter-of-factly.

She made a grab for the keys, but he yanked them out of reach. "I don't think so, Blondie. I've heard stories about all the cars you've crashed when you practiced with Remington," he said, smirking at the fuming look on her face.

"So what?" she nearly yelled. "I bet you don't have a driver's license since they leave you locked up here."

A dangerous look flashed on Aion's face, but he quickly replaced it with a dark sneer. "Well, maybe that's a good thing if a lunatic like you is out on the roads."

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the keys to me.

"But I've only got my permit," I said uncertainly. Why did it feel like all the responsibilities kept falling on my shoulders every time I turned around?

He shrugged, already climbing into the front seat. "Doesn't matter. Just don't let that crazy blonde behind the wheel!" he called.

"Shut your face!" Rosette shrieked, stomping over to get into the back.

I just stood there, dreading this trip more and more. We were all going to end up killing _each other_ at this rate.

**XxXxXxXxX**

I tossed my backpack in the back seat and started the car. As I backed up, Aion reached up to his car visor and typed on the buttons to a small remote attached there. Ahead of us, the garage door opened with a loud, metallic groan. I cringed more from the worry at how many militiamen had heard that than from the actual noise.

"Hey, Chrono…you might want to drive fast."

I didn't need to be told twice as I saw frantic flashlight beams zipping around the nighttime air. Fumbling to shift the stick to 'D', I slammed down on the accelerator and the car shot forward like a bullet. The engine roared in my ears as we zoomed past the confused militiamen who had jumped out of our way at the last minute. I clenched the wheel with all my strength and tried to keep as much control over the speeding vehicle as possible.

"And you say I'm a crazy driver!" Rosette yelled.

Only Aion seemed to be enjoying himself as he rolled down his window and stuck his head out to flip off anyone still standing, whooping and laughing like a maniac into the rushing wind.

"Aion! The gate!" I cried as we came closer and closer to the locked iron bars.

"Huh? Oh yeah!"

He hurriedly typed in another code on the remote and the gate slowly peeled open. Through the rearview mirror, I saw the militiamen pulling regrouping as Deckard came running out in his nightshirt. We had already shot past the gate before I could see just how pissed off he was.

I released some pressure off the pedal, but we continued speeding forward, trying to leave Magdalan as far behind as possible. Ahead, the dark road opened up, lit only by the pale moonlight.


End file.
